Ash 'Red' Ketchum
by Omnipotent97
Summary: Like the tittle suggests, this story involves Ash Ketchum done like his game counterpart, Red. Warning, contains OOC and OP Ash, read only if you like. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Current rating for safety and future prospects.
1. The start of an adventure

**Disclaimer- The pokemon franchise belongs to Nintendo and satoshi taijiri. I hold no credits in this story.**

"Talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 1- The start of an adventure.

Welcome to the world of pokemon, a magical world filled with amazing and powerful creatures known as pokemon. Pokemon are creatures of all sizes, shapes and types. Ranging from cute and cuddly to large and scary, all pokemon have something special about them. Let it be their beauty, their strength, their cuteness or even their rarity.

In this world, we humans live in harmony with pokemon, living together with them, taking care of each other. So much is the bonds between human and pokemon that we use pokemon in our daily lives. One such use is in pokemon battling. When 2 people, known as trainers, battle, it is called a pokemon battle. It goes on until the end of the time limit or one of the pokemon is no longer able to battle. People like these trainers go around the regions to collect special gym badges to challenge the pokemon league and become the best.

That was the dream of one ash ketchum from pallet town in the kanto region. Being a 10 year old boy with raven hair shagging around, deep red eyes and slightly tanned skin, ash ketchum was called devil eyes in his neighbourhood many a times, simply because his eyes were very freaky, but those who knew ash knew that there was nothing freaky about him or also red, because that was what his mother called him.

Currenty sitting on his bed with his eyes open an looking up to the ceiling, basked in the morning light, exactly 1 hour before he was supposed to wake up, his mind had thoughts after thoughts on what he was going to do on his journey that started today.

He had prepared for years, almost 3 for this day. He had packed his bag, he had made sure he had everything and he planned out his journey. Now all that left was choosing his starter.

A starter pokemon was a pokemon which accompanied a trainer throughout their journey across the world. Now, there were 3 possible and normal starters,Charmander, the fire type, squirtle, the water type and bulbasaur, the grass type. For all his life, he had never been able to choose between the three starter pokemon, because he liked all the three of them. He wanted one of each, not only because their evolution's were cool, but also because he liked them all.

However, he also knew that there was something else in store for him. Every time he saw a picture of the starting trio, he felt odd. Very odd, as if he didn't belong with them from the start. But he could wing it, right?

Well, it doesn't hurt if he reaches there a little early right?

* * *

"Morning red." His mother, delia ketchum, a businesswoman like none other, and the most caring person he ever knew. She was wearing a casual pink coloured t-shirt and green shorts, her usual out of business work, and she had the usual sweet smile on her face. "Excited?"

"...Yes." he was a quiet child, only speaking when needed and never speaking out of turn or when he protested something. People told he was shy, but he had the balls of steel. "I still can't choose my starter."

"Oh sweetie, I am sure you will get the best one suited for you if you choose wisely." Delia said, setting down some milk along with the breakfast set on the table. "Ash, have you taken everything?"

"Yes." Ash nodded, putting his bag on the table. He wasn't ready yet, still in a normal black t-shirt and white printed bottoms having a pokeball logo on his left thigh. "I have 5 potions, 1 revive and 10 of each of the berries that you gave me. Along with my poke-gear and vs-recorder."

"Good." Delia nodded in satisfaction. "And what about clothes?"

"I have a set of similar clothes with me, along with 3 pairs of... underwear and socks and gloves." Ash said, looking away at the embarrassing part. "And I have taken the stone you gave me as well."

"Good." she also sat down on the table, the mother and son duo having their last breakfast together for a long time. "Ash, remember, this world is filled with all sorts of people. I know I have been saying this to you for a long time, but this is probably the last time I see you in person. You will meet all sorts of people, good and bad, you will find all sorts of friends, but remember, you need to chose whom to put your trust in yourself. Don't get into any black business, and if you lose, don't worry, there is always a next chance to everything."

Ash didn't reply, just stoically and emotionlessly nodded his head. For a 10 year old, he was rather tall, reaching a height of 4ft 8inches, a height which was not only unusual but also crazy. He wasn't muscles yet because he was 10, but he had a lean body tone. He was also trained in many fighting styles, all done by himself, and was a good athlete. Having received home education upto 12th grade, when all the students his age were in the 5th, he was a very, very smart person.

And today, he was going to start on a new journey, a journey that opened a new page in his life.

* * *

"Ahh, ash, how good to see you." Professor Samuel oak, man easily in his 50's greeted him with a smile on his face. he had goldish white hair, with it tinting on the colour white. He was wearing a white coloured lab-coat with a red coloured t-shirt and khaki pants inside. Ash nodded as a greeting and gave the ghost of all ghost smiles. Entering in the lab that was 100 feet above sea level, that also with no elevator, he came to a room with 3 other children in it.

One was a purple t-shrit wearing teenager, with blue jeans and a yellow and green necklace on his neck. He had brown hair, and looked as if he owned the place, which he technically did. This was gary oak, the grandchild of professor oak, and ash's biggest rival, perhaps his archrival.

The other boy in the room except ash and gary was a blue haired boy with green eyes, and he was wearing polka dot themed pyjama's and was looking half asleep. This was boris, also known as bore due to his sense of humour.

The only girl in the room was a beautiful brown haired girl, wearing a light blue coloured tank-top and a red coloured skirt reaching till her knees. She was wearing a white coloured hat with a pokeball symbol on it. This was leaf, another pokemon trainer wannabe.

"Fianlly, ashy-boy!" gary exclaimed, putting his arms up in the air. "What happened, overslept?"

"I would say that it was his mother that didn't let him go so easily." Leaf giggled. Ash nodded at that, and ignored gary. "Good choice of clothes, they suit you."

Ash was wearing a light blue coloured jeans, with a black coloured t-shirt inside a red and white coloured jacket. He also had a hat with him, all red in colour with a white pokeball logo. He had a green coloured bag with him.

"Now that you all are here." The professor closed a book on the table rather loudly, waking up boris from his small sleep in a start, who quickly paid attention to the professor. "Let's begin. Starting from today, you are going to start your journey in the kanto region. Almost all of you passed with flying colours, some acing the entire exams. However, there is a slight problem."

"Oh come on gramps!" gary, being the ever impatient one, protested. "What is now?!"

"I only have the three normal starters. I do have a fourth one, but it isn't the normal one." The professor sighed. All of the kids heart stopped. "It means one of you will need to choose a compulsory starter, which one will it be?"

Before anyone else could even say anything, ash raised his hand. The professor looked at him, and the determination in his red coloured eyes, and smiled proudly.

"So you are ready to take the abnormal pokemon?" the professor asked. In truth, if it was anyone who had it in them to tame that pokemon, it would be ash 'red' ketchum. Ash nodded quite seriously. "Good. So that problem is solved. But first, let's begin. Since leaf is the only female here, and she can be qualified for that rule 'ladies first', she will get the first choice."

Said girl cheered, and walked forward. Behind the professor were 4 pokeballs, one having a flame sticker, one a leaf one and one having a bubble and the final one having a bolt. It seemed he was the only one who noticed it before the professor opened the pokeballs.

The first pokemon to come out was a blue coloured turtle with a cream underbody and a jagged brown coloured outer shell with a bald blue head and large brown eyes. This was the water type pokemon, squirtle.

The second one to come out was a green coloured bidipeal pokemon with a bud on it's back, being a little darker than the rest of it's body, and having small perfect green patches on his main body. This was the grass type pokemon, bulbasaur.

The final pokemon to come out was an orange coloured lizard, with a cream belly and a flame at the back of it's tail, never being doused. He had rather large claws. This was the fire type pokemon, charmander.

"Hey gramps! Where's ashy-boy's starter?" gary was slightly irritated. He was planning to take the pokemon that was going to be stronger against ash's, meaning, of the stronger type. But this wasn't his plan. "It isn't fair if he gets to choose after we all chose."

"Well, since ash has to choose the only pokemon there is with me, he will be getting his pokemon as the last one. But it's an electric type, that's what I can tell." Professor oak said. "Now leaf, is your choice?"

"I have been prepared for this since a long time! I choose bulbasaur!" leaf said excitedly, going down to pet the green coloured grass type, who smiled in satisfaction. Gary grumbled. He wanted that one.

"Great, now, it's boris's turn. I know you want to go gary, but you do not deserve special attention only because you are my grandson." The professor said, but scolded gary when he was about to shout. "Now, boris, which one do you want?"

"I want charmander!" boris said, making the said fire type jump in his arms. That left squirtle for gary, who though a little grumpy at getting the pokemon weaker to ash's, was still satisfied with the water type.

"Now, this one is yours, ash." The professor said, picking up the last pokeball and calling it out. The pokemon that came out was an electric rodent, all yellow in colour with 3 brown stripes on it's back and a black capped ears. It also had a zig-zag tail and also red coloured cheeks. "This is Pikachu."

Said rodent due to some reason was angry, and started to glare at the professor. But before he could start shocking them, ash took action.

The rodent felt a hand atop his head, which somehow, made him stop pouring electricity out of its cheeks. He turned around, and gazed into the reddest eyes he had ever seen. The teen looked straight into pikachu's eyes, making it understand that they weren't enemies, they were friends, they wanted to co-exists. Finally, after all shreds of anger vanished and all that remained was curiosity and slight awe was when ash lifted his hand.

"Hello. My name is ash." Ash introduced himself. The others were looking at him in either curiosity or apprehension. "I am going to be your trainer and friend."

Pikachu didn't say anything, just kept on gazing into those cold yet extremely warm eyes.

"I will be your friend if you let me be your friend." Ash explained, breaking pikachu's exterior coldness and anger, and bringing out the inner fun loving pokemon. "So, will you accompany me?"

Without hesitation, Pikachu smiled, making ash smile, and rub it's head.

"Pikaaaa~~" the rodent cooed under his touch. "Pikapi Pikachu!"

"Well, what do you know. Looks like devil eyes does have a warmer side." Gary taunted ash at the scene, who like always, only looked at him making him sweat slightly, and ignored him only angering him more.

"You have a cute starter red." Leaf told him after taking a look at his pikachu. "But my bulbasaur is cuter."

"Even though all your pokemon are cute or strong, my pokemon is the smartest of your all!" boris boasted. "For he outflames all your pokemon!"

"Before we get too carried away, let's move on to the next part. Here, I have got some devices known as the pokedex, an encyclopedia which will help you not only get data on some pokemon, but also on their moves, stats, levels, abilities and natures. Each one of you will get one, which will serve as your id's through your entire journey." Professor said. "I have one designated with a colour for each, ash, you will get the red one, leaf, for you it's the green one, boris, you have the orange one and gary has the blue one. Please take care of this because you won't get a new one if lost or misplaced."

"Yes sir." All four of them said, picking their respective poke-dexes.

"And as a gift, I will give you this." Professor said, handing them all some pokeballs. "I have given you 5 pokeballs, enough for your entire team. Other than that, you can always buy more, be it pokeballs, great balls, ultra balls or etc. Other than that, you are free to go. Ash, please stay behind, I have to say something to you."

* * *

"Aww, is that your new pokemon?" delia asked ash with a smile on her face. Pikachu was sitting on ash's shoulder, curiously looking around everywhere. He hated pokeballs, and his new friend allowed him to stay out of one. He saw the woman and deduced it was his trainer's meema. "It is cute."

Pikachu started to purr as delia stroked it's head and petted it. Ash cracked a small smile at the scene, before he went back to his normal emotionless look.

"Well, ashy, looks like this is it." delia said with a small, sad but still, proud smile on her face. "From today, you are an adult, a grown up man. You won't be getting anyone make your decisions for you, but you will have to make your own decisions. You are not only the one responsible for yourself, but also for your pokemon from now on. I hope that you succeed in your journey, and you find the thrill you have always been looking for."

"Thank you mom." With one last hug, ash turned around, and made for the route that headed out of pallet town. "I will keep in touch."

"Be safe, sweetie!" delia shouted out while waving. "I will be rooting for you!"

"Pika!" Pikachu, having liked the woman, also waved back. "Pikapi Pikachu!"

And so started the journey of what was going to be one of the most enigmatic, strongest and the most accomplished trainer of all times. May he find success in his journey, and may he come out on the top.

 _ **The end.**_

 **Authour's notes:-**

 **Welcome all to my first ever pokemon story and my second fanfic. While I don't know if you know me or not, I will introduce myself as my pen name, Omnipotent97. Being a writer has always been my dream, and this might possibly be the first step in my side carrier as a writer if I decide to be one, even though my major focus right now is on computers and mechatronics.**

 **Enough about myself. You see, I was surfing through bulbapedia one day, when I came across ash ketchum's page, and read that he was the avatar of the red in the games. So my first thought was '** _ **How can a 10 year old kid that loses his first gym battle everytime he goes into a new region, even if he has an advantage be the same as the kid who not only took down the league of kanto and johto, but also managed to go on top of mount silver and stop team rocket more times than he can count, even if ash has met all the legendaries in the world.'**_

 **So, I decided to give this idea of mine, named Ash 'red' ketchum, the ash ketchum as he was supposed to be, like red. If you have read my story, the dragon king's 3** **rd** **chapter, you might know that I had spoken about this idea, and here is my first chapter. Basically, ash is going to be the red from the games, just a little more talkative, and since he will be travelling across the world, that includes other regions out of kanto, sevii islands and johto, I have decided that he will catch some pokemon outside of his team.**

 **Now, as always, I will have a pairing in this story as well, before you ask, no, it's not leaf. I have her in store for someone else, nor it is any canonical female character, so no may, misty, dawn, iris and serena. It's going to be a surprise cause very few have tried this pairing in a long story like mine is going to be. If you have, hat's off after you find out the pairing some 2 to 3 chapters.**

 **Now, after much thinking, I have decided instead of making it a 50-50 mix between the anime and the games, it is going to be a 90-10 games-anime mix. So, 90% of the plot will be from the games, so don't be surprised if you don't see a pack of spearrow chasing after ash and Pikachu, though you will not be disappointed about the ho-oh scene.**

 **Also, about ash's skill level, as I have said, ash is like red. So by the time he reaches the league, he is going to be OP, so don't complain about it and just go with the flow. But don't for one second think that red/ash is going to destroy all the foe's he battles, he will face troubles, and will also loose, but not heavily like the anime ash does.**

 **Now enough of my ranting. Check out my other story, the dragon king, a fairy tail fanfiction, if you are interested. Always remember to hit the like button, or follow button, or placing a review for it not only makes me interested in continuing my stories but also makes me feel someone is enjoying them as well. Flamers will be ignored, but positive criticism will be accepted to a level.**

 **Regards... omnipotent97.**


	2. Route 1- viridian city

**Disclaimer- I don't own pokemon, it belongs to Nintendo and satoshi taijiri.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 2- route-1 to Viridian city.

 _Pikachu, the electric mouse pokemon. It is said that this pokemon stores electricity in it's pockets on it's cheeks and can also send messages through electricity. Type, uncommon. Gender, male. Height, 1ft8inches. Weight, 15kgs. Level-5. Moves- tackle, thundershock and leer. Ability, static, second ability, lightning rod._

 _Static- static is an ability which many electric types have. It basically paralysis the foe upon contact._

 _Lightning rod. The one with the ability lightning rod absorbs all the lighting to increase it's attack and special attack._

Ash looked at the screen emotionlessly, albeit, with a satisfactory glint in his eye. Pikachu had some very good abilities and stats. His moves could use some improvement, but it was satisfactory. And he had to admit, the pokedex was an amazing development if it could not only give the stats, but also all this information.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu, who was sitting on a rock in front of him, gained his attention. "Pika, Pikachu?"

"You are great." Ash said, looking around the area they were in. There were some trees around him, and a narrow path that led towards the hills and towards viridian city. "You require some training but you are great. Luckily, I know just the place."

"Pikachu!" the rodent cried and jumped up ash's shoulder, who started to walk towards the east, not in the direction they were supposed to go. Before they could make it to where ash wanted to go, they were stopped by something that caught ash's eye.

It was a pidgey, a normal, wild pidgey. Now, ash could have caught that pidgey, but he had other ideas first.

"Pikachu, there's your first battle." ash said to his starter. Pidgey noticed them, and took of for the skies with an indignant battle cry. "Let's go."

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped of ash's shoulder, and in front of ash, it's cheeks sparking, awaiting an order. "Pikachu!"

"Alright, use tackle!" ash commanded. Immediately, Pikachu started to run for the pidgey, who also rushed at Pikachu. "Don't hesitate, overpower it's tackle, use your tail to give you some extra thrust!"

Pikachu jumped for the pidgey the exact moment when it dipped down, colliding head on with pidgey. He, as ash said, used his tail as a spring to give him some extra force, and managed to overpower the pdgey's tackle, albeit, barely.

Pidgey flew back and dived back for Pikachu, however, this time, he had his beak as a weapon.

"Pikachu, watch out, he is using peck!" ash warned Pikachu, who dodged the peck attack. "Great, now use tackle!"

This time, Pikachu was able to get the full tackle on pidgey, who was slammed out of the air and back to the ground.

"Now finish it, use thunder shock!" pikachu's cheeks started to sparkle, and he unleashed a small torrent of electricity towards pidgey, who didn't stand a chance against the super effective attack, and fainted, falling on the ground with its eyes replaced with swirls. A small beep was heard, originating from ash's pokedex. Checking it, Pikachu had levelled up to level 6, a good sign.

"Good work Pikachu, you did great." Ash said with a smile, petting the electric rodent on the head. "Let's go. We have a lot of training to do today."

* * *

"Use thunder shock!" Pikachu took down his 12th? Magicarp with that attack. Seriously, why were there only magicarps in that lake and not other pokemon? Beside the occasional tentacool, there were no other pokemon, none! And even though there was nothing wrong with magicarps as their evolution was rather extremely strong, he didn't like them now since they knew nothing except slash, and didn't provide that much experience. In the 5 hours he was near the river, ash was sure he had defeated 12 magicarps, 3 ratata's, 5 pidgeys and 2 tentacools. But Pikachu still wasn't tired, and was hyped up for battle, and ash wanted to use pikachu's enthusiasm to get in some training.

He had decided from the start that he didn't want more than 6 pokemon in his journey around the region. The reason for that was if he had more, then he would not only have to rotate his team, but also keep on changing his pokemon every day to make sure he treated everyone fair. When he left for any other region was a completely different matter. So he did not catch any pokemon, no matter how good some of them were.

Now at level 10, Pikachu had learnt the move thunder wave and quick attack, some good moves for Pikachu to learn as quick attack could help in tough situations and thunder wave could help when you wanted to be the faster pokemon. Even though not always true, the first one to get a hit always has the upper hand in the battle.

So now, after a total of 5 hours worth of training from morning, ash decided that it was enough, since they would need energy to make the 2 and a half hour journey towards viridian if they didn't want to camp out in the night.

"Pikachu, come back." Ash called out. "Let's stop for the day. It's almost noon and we should move towards viridian if we want to make it in time."

"Pika!" Pikachu answered, and ran back towards ash, who was sitting down on the rock, with some bread with him. He tore through half of it, and gave Pikachu some bread, which it accepted delightfully. "Pikachu!"

"It's okay." Ash smiled, petting his starter. Wasn't he smiling a lot lately? "You deserve it. You did great work today."

After eating their slight snack, ash got up and packed his bag. Before he could forget, he filled his canteen of water from the river for the journey that was about to come. Also, he took the 'fishing rod' that he made. It was a simple thread tied to a branch with a small piece of pokefood on it. Though not a professional rod, it still worked.

Back on track, as ash made his way towards viridian, the clouds above started to blacken slightly. It seemed that it was going to be a downpour soon. Frowning as he saw the gathering of the black clouds, ash picked up the pace. He didn't have anything to cover himself with right now, and he wasn't in the mood of finding a shelter right now, especially when he was going towards viridian.

However, it seemed the weather wasn't with him. In two minutes, it started to drizzle. Cursing under his breath, ash looked around and luckily, found a tree thick and large enough to provide them shelter till the clouds went away.

After a long time, the rain finally stopped, making ash release a sigh and Pikachu to cheer. Finally, he could move back towards pallet, but something caught his attention.

Up in the sky, a bird pokemon, not any normal one, but a very special looking one was flying towards the horizon. It was golden, but not because of it's natural colour, but because of the rays of the sun. There was a rainbow that was trailing behind it.

Immediately, ash got his pokedex out, and tried to get a record of it, but it wasn't registered. Was it from a different region? Or was it a pokemon not seen before. Luckily, his pokegear had a camera and he could catch an image of the strange pokemon. Perhaps professor oak would know what pokemon was that.

* * *

"Halt!" a lady with blue green hair and wearing a blue green outfit stopped them She was on a bike and had a stick with her. "Who are you and whose pokemon is that?"

"I am ash ketchum." Ash replied, confused as to why a police officer wanted to talk to him. "And this is my friend, partner and starter pokemon Pikachu, I am from pallet town. How can I help you, officer"

"I am officer jenny from the kanto police force." The officer said with a salute. "I am sorry for interrupting you, but I would need to see your id."

"Yeah, sure." Ash said, removing his pokedex. "Will this do?"

"Yes." The officer took his pokedex, and pressed a button. Immediately, a mechanical voice spoke up.

' _I am dexter, the AI of this pokedex. My job is to record and show data about any pokemon my owner scans me with. I belong to ash ketchum of pallet town, who has only one pokemon, a Pikachu, in his possession. In case if I am damaged, lost or stolen, I can't be re-placed._ ' The officer gave ash back his pokedex, and sighed.

"I am sorry, ash. But lately, there have been cases of pokemon thievery, and when I saw that Pikachu outside on your shoulder, I thought you were a thief. Forgetting that, you should either recall your pokemon to it's pokeball, or make your way to the pokemon center as soon as you can. There are thieves around." officer jenny said, sitting back on her bike, and motioning to the side seat. "So, need a ride?"

"... Sure." Ash had no problems. It was almost twilight, and he was also tired. A good rest sounded like music to his ears right now. He got into the bike, and allowed officer jenny to drive him away.

* * *

"Welcome to the pokemon center." A lady, with pinkish red hair wearing a normal nurse outfit, all white in colour, greeted him with a smile. She had a hat with a cross sign on top. "I am nurse joy. How can I help you?"

"Hello nurse joy, I am ash ketchum and I would like it if you check up my Pikachu for me. He doesn't like pokeballs." Ash said, picking up pikachu and setting him on the tray. "And I would also like a room for the night as well as to register myself for the pokemon league this year."

"Sure. Let me heal and check on your Pikachu first." The nurse said, picking the tray and taking it inside. She came out with a fully healthy Pikachu. "Your Pikachu is perfect and in peak condition. Now, can you give me your pokedex so I can have you registered for the pokemon league and the trainer system?"

"Sure." The trainer system, a system for people who train their pokemon, which allow them to use the major services of the pokemon center, mart and any other pokemon league affiliated service for free at a minor price of 500p$ per week. It was like a club, but instead of paying it in the start, he paid for the membership every week. Now one good thing about money was you started out with 3000p$ and you get money as you win against other trainers or even sell some antique stuff you find. While money wasn't a problem for ash, he also started out with the normal 3000 bucks in his Pokemon trainer system account, and every week, 500p$ would be deducted from his account automatically.

"Here, you are registered for the pokemon league of kanto this year. You will need to get all the 8 badges in 8 months before the league starts. Good luck. Here is your key to your room." The nurse said with a bright smile, handling him a keycard and his pokedex and also a badge case. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes, can you tell me where the phone is?" ash asked, his face never losing his emotionless look. The nurse pointed towards the phones in the far end of the room. Ash bowed once. "Thank you for your help."

Walking towards the phones, ash frowned once in contemplation and slight seriousness as he passed through a particular statue. It looked exactly like that bird he saw.

First of all, he decided to call his mother.

"Whose it?" the screen was blacked out for now, only appearing as audio only. "If it is any idiotic idiot who thinks you can threat me, then please make sure you aren't surrounded by police already."

"Don't worry mom, it's me." Ash sighed. So they still called like that? Immediately, the video turned on, delia's face appearing on the screen in front of him. She was currently wearing a pink coloured bath robe. "Hey mom, been a while."

"Ash! I am so glad you called me." She greeted him with a wide smile. "How has your journey been so far?"

"I am in viridian city, mom." Ash said, though not as cheerfully as his mother. "I decided to call you first. I am doing great, and so is Pikachu."

"Pika!" The said rodent raised a tiny hand from ash's lap. "Pika, pikapi, Pikachu!"

"I am glad to hear that. In fact, I am surprised you reached viridian so quick. Your father took almost 2 weeks to even reach there."

"I am sure he got lost in route 1 and somehow ended up in the indigo plateau." Ash sighed at the antics of his father. "Ignoring him, how is everything back home?"

"Oh, it's great. I was busy all day today, even though I have 3 days off, I needed to talk to some people, and make sure our new project is good." Delia said, waving off her problems. "Anyways, have a good journey, my little red. And make sure to keep in touch and change your-."

"Yes mom, I promise all you say." Ash said rather quickly. "Good bye!"

And after that, ash kept the phone, and slumped. Seriously, his mother... Anyways, it was time for him to call professor oak, but this time, instead of his face or an audio only screen, he came face to face with the professor's back.

"Hello ash!" the professor, still not realising that he was facing the wrong camera said. "I was expecting you to call me today. By my computer, you are in viridian city?"

"Yes, but you might want to, you know, check your camera." Ash said with a sweatdrop. He was sure he heard the f word almost 3 times before the professor set the right camera. "Yeah, that's better."

"I think that is the most I have heard you speak, ash." The professor joked. Ash didn't give any response, nor verbally, nor emotionally. "And it is the most I have heard you talk. Anyways, I am sure you are in good health."

"Yes. I and Pikachu both are in great shape. I didn't catch any pokemon, but it's not my style to catch every pokemon I see, which I believe is what gary is doing right now." He pumped his fist mentally when the professor sighed and nodded. "But ignoring that, how's everything in the lab?"

"Oh, it's great. Slightly silent without you 4 kids around, but it's great. The pokemon all miss you." The professor said. "You know, I won the bet I made with gary about you being able to reach viridian city so quick."

"I like to move as fast as I can, professor. I have a lot of ground to cover since I am walking and not on a sports car like gary." Ash said, rather aggravated. "Anyways, I called you mainly because I saw a pokemon today, somewhere around at 3 to 4 in the evening, somewhere in the middle of pallet and viridian on route 1. It looked like the pokemon out there on the statue."

"Hmm, that one?" the professor asked in curiosity. "Are you sure? It could have been a pidgey or a pidgeot, you know?"

"I checked it with the pokedex, and it said that there was no recording of that pokemon. You can check your data base." Ash said, quite sure of himself. "And if that is still not enough, I have taken a picture of it from my pokegear. If you want, I can send it to you."

"Please do. For even I don't know much about that pokemon, only that it belongs to another region." Professor oak said, typing some buttons on the keyboard in front of him. "Ah ha, here, it says your pokedex indeed recorded such a creature at exactly 1327 hours today. It was able to measure it's wingspan, and this says it was large, larger than any pidgeot or a bird type. Ash, please send me the image as soon as you can. This is something new."

"Already on it." ash said, opening his pokegear. It was a small device, red in colour, which had a camera behind, a calling system and also a radio and a map. What an interesting development. "Done."

"Yes, I received a file." The professor said, opening it. "This might take a while for me to examine. Anyways, good luck on your journey, ash. I will tell you what pokemon this was if I find some more evidence soon."

"Yes sir." Ash nodded, and cut the phone. Looking down at Pikachu, he pet it's head. "Well pi, looks like it's only us now. How about we grab some food?"

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered, climbing onto ash's shoulder.

* * *

It happened in the middle of the night. Just as ash was about to sleep, the power went out. Now, had it been pallet, he would have slept peacefully because power cuts were not unusual in pallet due to the distance from the power plant. But that was a different case here. In viridian, power never cut because not only it was a big city, but also because it hosted the final gym of the region. So without hesitation, he got up, put on his pants, removed his flashlight and with Pikachu, left the room.

"Hello!" a voice, feminine in nature, which he was sure he heard as soon as he came here, shouted out in the hallway. "Please stay in your rooms, it is a simple light out."

However, ash knew something was wrong here. He made his way to where nurse joy was.

"I said to stay in the room, didn't I?" the nurse said, her hands on her hips. "Why are you here?"

"..." however, ash didn't reply, just looked around the room, and towards something which he found weird. Out there, the main switch was put down. Walking to it, ash let Pikachu put the switch on so he won't be shocked. As soon as the lights came out, a large puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room.

"What the!" nurse joy shouted, going behind the counter for protection. "What is going on?!"

"Prepare for trouble." A female voice, belonging to a dark pink haired woman, shaped strangely going behind her in the shape of a tail, said. She was wearing a white coloured blouse and a skirt, with a black coloured R on it.

"And make it double." The other person, a man, with light blue, almost cyan coloured hair said. He was also wearing a similar outfit, but it was of a male, with long white pants, t-shrit, boots and gloves.

"To prepare the world from devastation." The woman said.

"To unite all people within our nation." The man said.

"To denounce the evil of truth and love."

"To extend our reaches far above."

"Jessie!"

"James."

"Team rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right." A meowth, a talking meowth said that. A meowth was a small cat like pokemon, cream coloured, with black outlined ears and a charm on his head.

"Team rocket?" nurse joy muttered from behind the counter. "You are those thieves that have been stealing around, aren't you?"

"Well well well, looks like someone knows about us." James, as he introduced himself in the idiotic intro, said with a smirk. "Then how about you keep quiet while you let us do what we need to do?"

"It will not only be easy for you, but also for us." Jessie said, showing a bag. "Fill all the pokeballs with pokemon in them in this bag now."

However, ash had other ideas. He stood in between them, his Pikachu standing in front.

"Huh, whose tha brat?" meowth said, looking at ash, and getting unnerved by those red coloured eyes. "Damn, he has the eyes of a devil. Jessie, james, deal with him."

"You should have left us alone, kid." James said, calling out a pokemon, like a mine, purple in colour with a danger symbol on it's body in cream. It had gasses coming out of the holes it had on it's body. "Let's go, koffing!"

"Ekans, please deal with this boy." Jessie called out a snake like pokemon, with yellow coloured eyes and mouth and a light purple body. It hissed as it stood beside koffing.

"Quick attack." Pikachu seemingly vanished, and appeared in front of ekans, sending it barrelling back towards Jessie.

"Oh no you don't! Koffing, use sludge!" koffing shot a blob of purple liquid towards Pikachu, who dodged it quite easily, and judging by the bubbling of the liquid, it was a good choice. "crap."

"Thunder wave." Immediately, a yellow coloured shock appeared from above koffing. Now, both of the enemy pokemon were paralysed. One due to static and the other due to thunder wave. "Thunder shock."

The electric attack knocked out both the poison type pokemon, and sent them crashing into Jessie and james, both knocked out.

"Oh no, don't think you have won yet!" meowth said, claws drawn out. "Meowth uses fury swipes!"

"Dodge, then quick attack." The cat like pokemon was all talk, no strength, who also was sent crashing into Jessie and james. There was another beep from his pokedex, which he ignored for now. "Send them flying at the speed of light with a thunder shock!"

*BOOM* the thunder shock was powerful enough to send them flying from the hole they came in from.

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" was the last thing he heard before they disappeared. Ash sighed, and checked his pokedex. So Pikachu was now on level 12. Good for both of them. Turning around, he saw nurse joy wiping her face of sweat, and sighing in relief. She flashed a beautiful smile to ash.

"Thank you, ash. The way you came to my rescue and to the pokemon's rescue was amazing and brave." The nurse sweetly thanked him. The doors burst open as officer jenny rushed in.

"Are you all okay!" the officer asked them, a pokeball ready. Ash stayed silent while nurse joy talked to officer jenny and explained the situation. After she was done, the police lady turned towards ash. "What you did was very stupid and idiotic, but also very brave. I guess it should be expected of someone from your family, ash ketchum. You have the gratitude of the viridian city police department."

"..." ash nodded once, and went back towards his room, Pikachu on his shoulder. Both the grown ups looked at him with different faces.

"Is it just me." Nurse joy whispered into her friend's ear. "Or is he a little... quiet?"

"I think he is just shy." The officer said, a smile on her face. "Or embaressed. But did you look at his eyes? They showed no emotion."

"Even when he battled, it was impossible to read his mind through his eyes. And truth to be told, they actually creep me out a little, and also turn me on at the same time." The nurse said with a wink. "But I can say one thing. That boy is going to go far in his carrier."

* * *

"Well well well, devil-eyes." Gary, whom he had run into while training on the route 22 just before the gates to victory road and indigo plateau greeted him with his usual taunting smirk. "What a pleasant surprise. I thought you would be still wondering in route 1. Catch any pokemon? Or did the loser traits in you send all the pokemon flying away from you?"

Ash did not reply, only stared at gary. Gary grit his teeth. It always was that emotionless glare. Why couldn't he be affected like anyone else!

"SO you think you are all that good huh? Let's have a battle then!" gary shouted, removing a pokeball. "A simple 2 on 2. Let's go, pidgey!"

"..." ash's face twitched, his eyes gaining an excited glint in them as he snapped his fingers. Pikachu immediately stood in front of him, cheeks sparking for the upcoming battle.

"I am not going to lose, even if you have a type advantage! Pidgey, use peck!" the bird started to dive for pikachu, who didn't even need to be commanded. It jumped high in the air to dodge the pokemon.

"Tackle." Pikachu used the force he got from landing down on the ground to propel himself towards the airborne pidgey, and slammed his shoulder into pidgey's right wing, doing a good amount of damage. "Now use quick attack."

After bouncing back a little, Pikachu disappeared and re-appeared in front of pidgey, slamming into it with great force, enough to make it struggle to get up. Gary grit his teeth.

"Don't give up! Use tackle!" pidgey somehow got the energy to get up, and flew at fast speeds towards Pikachu, keen on doing some damage.

"... stop it." Pikachu stood where it was, and raised his arms to stop the incoming pidgey, albeit it was dragged back by a few inches. Ash had done some special training to enhance pikachu's muscles. He wanted to teach Pikachu some good moves, so he needed it. "Now, use thunder shock."

"Pika...chuuuuu!" Pikachu unleashed the torrent of electricity, which straight went inside pidgey, knocking out the poor flying type pokemon. "Pika!"

"Grr, return pidgey! You did great. Let's go, squirtle!" gary sent out his starter, his squirtle. "Now you don't stand a chance. Squirtle, use bubble!"

Squirtle shot some bubbles from it's mouth, which didn't do much damage to Pikachu with the few amounts of bubbles that hit Pikachu, who managed to dodge most of them.

"Thunder wave." A small bolt of lightning struck squirtle, paralysing it. "Now quick attack, again and again."

Once again, gary felt himself losing his cool as squirtle was hit mercilessly by quick attacks. Finally, the torture stopped as ash commanded Pikachu to stop.

"...Gary." ash said, looking at him in concern. "You okay? You look out of it."

"I... I... I forfeit!" gary shouted, running forward to hug his squirtle, who hadn't collapsed yet. "I can't beat you! I am sorry."

"... I expect a rematch one day." Ash said, turning around with pikachu on his shoulder. "Train some more, gary."

He didn't know why but he somehow found that it would be better not to tease ash from now on. He was a damn good trainer, a very good trainer. If he did not train, ash was going to crush him like this in the future again and again.

* * *

"..." ash stared at the entrance to viridian forest. He had got all the supplies he needed for his trip in the forest, and had made sure he trained his Pikachu to the best level he could go to before moving forward. Pikachu rubbed his cheeks against his, and pointed towards the forest, prompting as to move.

It was time to go into the unknown areas of kanto, and make his dream come true. It was time to be a pokemon master.

 _ **The end.**_

 **Author's notes:- phew, this was a hassle to write. Mainly because I was wondering what to do about misty. I will be truthful, I don't like misty that much. So, to satisfy myself, I am going to omit her from the series and make her the gym leader of cerulean like the games. As I said, this is going to follow the games a lot more than the anime. In fact, the only episode of the anime which is going to be appearing in this is going to be the grandpa canyon one.**

 **Now, about ash's development, I told you, he is going to be ridiculously OP. In fact, you will see how much OP I can make a character in this story. My expected chapter for kanto arc to end will be somewhere around 18 to 20, yeah, or I won't be able to start writing the johto arc.**

 **About the pairing, well, it is still a surprise, but expect the main female character in this story to make her appearance in the next chapter. She will travel with ash, so hope you are ready to face some cheesy, strange and rather cute romantic moments. As a spoiler, I will only reveal one thing. She doesn't have a normal dream and is introduced after gen 4. In fact, we know very less about her.**

 **The next update should take a while, for both my stories as I don't have the facilities for internet. Seriously, I am using the airport's wifi right now cause I am here to pick up my cousin. Expect it in 4 to 5 days, of course, if I have written the next chapter till then.**

 **Regards... omnipotent97.**


	3. Viridian forest

**Disclaimer- I don't own pokemon, it belongs to Nintendo and satoshi taijiri.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

( **Author's intrusion.** )

Chapter 3- Viridian forest.

Viridian forest is the large forest that rested just above viridian city on the way to pewter city, going through route 2, being one of the biggest forests in the world, the small woods around pallet not even holding a candle against it. It was big, round, loopy and easy to get lost into. Rumours said that there were some people who had been lost that were never found. However, that wasn't the case for ash.

Still not having caught any pokemon on his team yet, he had a seriously overpowered Pikachu to cover for his lack of pokemon. Now being at level 16, Pikachu had it in him to even go up against pokemon that were stronger in type against him or pokemon on which his electric attacks weren't effective against, like leafs bulbasaur.

Currently walking through the woods of viridian forest, with Pikachu on his shoulder, the red haired teen was following the path to go towards viridian city. However, he didn't know what was going to become of his journey in the upcoming 10 minutes.

"HELP!" a voice, clearly female in tone, shouted out around the area. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

Pikachu's ears twitched and it jumped down from his shoulder, and pointed towards a direction. Ash nodded, and the two ran towards where the noise came from.

It was a girl, probably the same age as him, perhaps a bit shorter. She had shoulder length pink hair and cornflower blue eyes. Her skin tone was pale, perhaps, very pale, suiting her. If he had an eye in girls like gary had, he would say she was very sexy, but he wasn't like that. She was pretty, very pretty, perhaps the prettiest girl he had ever seen, and right now, she was in trouble.

She was sitting crouched on the floor near a tree, with a meowth, this time, a non talking meowth standing in front of her, growling against a batch of bedrill, who had their long needles ready to skewer the poor girl. Knowing that meowth wasn't trained in any way to tackle pokemon like bedrill, nor any pokemon for that matter, ash nodded to Pikachu, who jumped in front of the female meowth.

The bedrill suddenly faced an angry electric type pokemon, who was charging up a move, and shot a powerful thundershock onto the enemy bedrill, knocking one out in one single move, and the others running for their lives, their comrade left down.

Ash walked forwards, towards the cowering girl, who managed to look up to see ash. Her cheeks took on a cherry pink hue matching her hair.

This boy, he was... good looking. Especially with the red eyes, he looked cool in a way, and also enigmatic and mysterious like many manga and anime characters she knew.

"Uh..." the girl managed to mutter out from where she was huddled up. "W who are you?"

"Ash." He replied, not speaking anything else. "Ash ketchum."

"Y Yancy, Yancy orchid." The girl, Yancy, introduced herself. "T Thank you for saving me."

"It's not a problem." Ash curtly nodded, his emotionless facade never breaking. Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder. "Where do you live?"

"Umm, here in viridian forest." At hearing that, ash raised an eyebrow. Was she one of those girls who was said to be lost for ages? Probably not because she had a pokeball with her on the belt and also clothes he saw in some of the shops in viridian city. "I live in a cabin my... parents left for me when they went away, just some 10 minutes away from here towards pewter."

If possible, ash's already emotionless look turned even more emotionless. Left away? Did she mean died? Or did she mean they abandoned her? How could someone abandon such a beautiful and pretty girl? Who had the audacity to leave a child alone in a forest of all things and most of all, how many years had she lived alone?

"I see." Ash said, not peeking more into the issue. "If you want, I can accompany you to your cabin as protection from the other wild pokemon around, I am headed for pewter anyway."

"W well, if you are offering me that then..." Yancy hesitantly looked to the side. "I I don't have much to repay you back."

"It's okay." Ash said, with the slightest of the smiles on his face. "I don't want anything. I will help any girl or boy that is need of help, especially a pretty girl like you."

While ash had no encounters with the female side in his 10 years of life except his mother, he had been educated all on the ways of how to treat a girl, how to make her feel special and how to not talk with a girl. He knew his compliment could be taken the wrong way by many, but no matter who the girl is, a girl will always accept a compliment with a warm heart.

"T thank you." Yancy got up, cheeks darkening a little more, and getting up. Finally, he could take a good look at her clothes. She was wearing a white coloured t-shirt, with a pokeball logo behind it in pink and a black coloured long-skirt, reaching her knees. She had a basket with her, small and empty, but he could see one or two pieces of grapes inside, meaning she was either going out on a picnic, or to sell them in the city. "Umm, can I ask a question?"

"..." he nodded wordlessly, moving along with her towards the road she pointed. She gulped once, as if going to ask a question that was going to change her life.

"A are those eyes of yours natural?" she asked, albeit, with a lot of hesistance in her voice. "I don't mean anything offensive, it's just, they... suit you and look good on you."

"..!" for the first time in his life, someone other than his mother complimented on his eyes. In pallet, most of the children were afraid of him, calling him devil eyes or even red as his mother called him, very few playing with him like boris, leaf and to an extent, gary. This girl, who had only met him like 5 minutes ago, had not only complimented his eyes, but also asked about them, a question most avoid. "They are natural."

"That is something. I never thought someone could have such a beautiful shade of red as their eye colour." Yancy said, looking back on the front. She suddenly felt someone poking her leg, and looked down to see the meowth. She gasped and picked up her meowth up. "Of course, I forgot to introduce you. This is meowth, my only friend and pokemon. She isn't trained, but protects me from the bugs that try to attack. At that time, she was facing an entire flock, so she couldn't do anything."

"... This is my starter and friend Pikachu." Ash also introduced the yellow coloured rodent sitting on his shoulder, who flashed a 'v' sign. "He is for me the best pokemon in the world."

"Same here." Yancy said, clutching her meowth tighter to her chest. "I love her!"

"Nyaa!" the meowth cooed in return, licking yancy's cheek, who giggled. Ash smiled softly, only for a second, but got back into his emotionless look.

It took them 10 minutes to get to yancy's cabin, even though small, it was sweet, having one room only, big enough to be considered a bedroom, small to be a living room, with also a restroom inside. He could see some pipes attached to it, and was sure that there was some water that came into the cabin. There was no light, but a bulb was attached to the room, and there was also one of those old tv's in the room. All in all, it was sweet, but ash was sure it wasn't that hospitable as it looked. And judging by the small gaps in the roof which was made out of leaves, branches and some plaster, he was sure there was going to be some water that dripped in when it rained.

"Here we are, home sweet home!" but all it mattered for her was the it was her home, where she lived, somehow. "I made it myself!"

"..." ash pondered on what to say. He could say there were many mistakes, but that would be bad, but he didn't want her to have any problems in the future. "It is good and well designed, but I am sure you will find it easier to live if you patch the holes in the roof with mud, but it is still sweet."

"I know." Yancy sighed, but smiled at his words. "Thank you for telling me that, ash, it will surely help me a lot. So, what now? Are you going to stay for the night? It is getting late and I can definitely let you stay."

"... I don't want to interrupt." Ash said, knowing it won't create a big problem even if it was only one night, but for Yancy, it would cost her a bomb. "And I don't want to give you trouble."

"It's okay!" the truth was, she didn't want him to leave so soon. "It won't be a problem. I would love it if you stay."

"... Alright then." Ash said, knowing he wasn't going to be able to convince her. "I will stay, but only for tonight. Of course, you can contact me whenever you want, just leave a message in any pokemon center and they will reach to me."

In the span of the evening and night, ash learnt many things about Yancy. First of all, she was abandoned when she was young, being alone since the age of 5. She found meowth, who helped her survive, and helped her built the hut with some pokemon that used to live around. She knew even if there was everything in the forest, she couldn't live without money, so she decided she would sell some of the rarer plants that she found in the forest that no pokemon could eat and earn some money to give her supplies.

Ash was heavily touched by her story, and was formulating one plan in his head. He was from a very rich family, his parents being very successful trainers at first and then, business people, running one of the major industries in the world, albeit his father was now dead, his mother still earned enough to support their tiny family for 100 years without him earning a penny. But same couldn't be said for Yancy, she was struggling, in fact, he was sure that the 4500 p$ she earned every month was not enough to cater for her needs and for meowth's needs. There was only one thing she could do now, and he was going to talk about it in the morning.

* * *

"So, this is it." Yancy sadly said, looking down. She was going to miss her first human friend, even if he said he would come to meet her whenever he passes by viridian forest, and leave a message for her at the pokemon center every month. Her already sad eyes were even more sad right now. "I am going to miss you."

"..." ash only stared, about to say something, but was interrupted when a net suddenly came out of nowhere and tried to catch Pikachu and meowth who were sitting on the side on the ground. But Pikachu was a lot faster, meowth was not.

"Meowth!" Yancy shouted, looking up where a meowth shaped balloon hovered. "What is going on here!"

*Insert team rocket motto( **If you think I am going to write it everytime, sorry, I don't have the time.** )*

"Hey look, we caught another meowth, but not Pikachu!" james pointed out, looking down at the net. "Let's get the twerp!"

"Yikes, that's a great specien we got!" meowth said, eyes wide when he saw his female counterpart. "Let's get it!"

"It's not about your feelings, meowth!" Jessie snapped, removing her pokeball. "It's about money! Go ekans!"

"Koffing, I chose you!" However, ash wasn't in the mood. For the first time, he felt anger course through his veins, cold, hard and hot anger, anger on team rocket to dare and hurt Yancy and her pokemon. He snarled.

"Pikachu, use quick attack!" Pikachu did as told, and faster then anyone could see, managed to get to the net and free yancy's meowth, who ran towards her owner, and into her waiting arms.

"Meowth!" Yancy cried, hugging the cat like creature as hard as she could without hurting it. "I am so glad you are okay!"

"Nyan!" meowth also coed, happy to be in yancy's arms.

"Hey, it's not fair to steal from a thief!" Jessie shouted. "Ekans, use poison sting!"

"And koffing, you use sludge!" james said.

"Dodge both of them, then use thundershock!" Expertly, Pikachu dodged, and used thundershock on the two pokemon, sending them crashing into team rocket, who fell down from the ballon, however, ash wasn't counting on one thing.

When team rocket had come, they had decided to threaten ash with something much more dangerous than pokemon. They had a bomb, a small black coloured bomb that exploded when it collided with the earth. Now if they were in the forest, it won't have caused much trouble, but since they were near yancy's cabin, it did cause a problem. The explosion tore down half of her cabin, her hard worked filled cabin.

"Oh no!" now, her tears couldn't stop. "M my house!"

"... You are dead." Ash snarled, ordering Pikachu to blast them away with the strongest thundershock, sending them flying away. However, the damage was done.

Yancy was on her knees, crying as she saw the state of her cabin. What once was hospitable, even though not by much, still able to give her a roof on her head, was now nothing but a piece of rubble. She didn't know what survived the explosion, but knew that she wasn't going to be able to afford anything that would help her, atleast for the next 2 to 3 years to build a home. Her life was ruined.

"Yancy." Ash placed a hand on her shoulder, eyes downtrodden. "I am sorry, it is my fault that-."

"It's not your fault!" she shouted, looking up at her, eyes still filled with tears. "It's not your fault, it's team rockets."

"..." ash managed to close his eyes, and when he opened them, he had a certain glint in them. "How much money do you have on you?"

"W well, if my calculation is right, I have somewhere around...4500 p$ that I earned this month, and some 12000 I had saved, so around 16500 to 17000p$, why?" she asked, confused as to why he was asking the question, and still in a daze. "I didn't need much this month because I had a month load of supplies with me."

"Great." Ash said, a true smile appearing on his face. "That's enough for you to start a journey."

"Huh?" now, she snapped out of her daze, and looked at ash as if he was crazy. "A journey? Are you out of your mind? I need to build a cabin to stay!"

"No you don't." Ash said, looking back at her in the eye. "I will tell you the truth, I come from a rich family, but right now, you have more money than I have. I only have somewhere around 5000 with me, and I started my journey 2 days ago, with 3000. I earned the rest by winning battles and stuff like that. You can do that as well. I know your dream is to become a tv performer one day, but you won't be able to complete it if you stay here."

"I know what you mean ash." Yancy said, trying her best to counter his points. In truth, she wanted to go with him and see the world. "But you have a home to return to, I don't."

"Look, if you feel you are uncomfortable, you can tell that, and I will return all the way from wherever we are here, help you build a cabin, a much better one at that, and even give you back the money you lost in your journey." Ash said seriously. "Yancy, I am asking you once again. Please, come with me on my journey, you won't ever have to worry about survival again."

"..." Yancy looked down at meowth, who only rubbed her head against the pink haired girls leg. Now knowing her answer, she looked up at ash, with a serious face. "What do I need to do?"

* * *

"I see." Professor oak said, rubbing his chin. He was not only surprised and hurt over this talk he had with ash, but also concerned for the girl. "Well, I don't have to judge anyone. She will have a pokedex when you reach pewter city. Don't worry about that. Just, you will have to have her deposit the base amount in her account so transactions can be made."

"...It will be done." Ash said, nodding once. "Thank you, professor."

He cut off the pokegear call he had with professor oak, and turned to where Yancy was. She was now in a different style of clothing, wearing a white coloured shirt over baby pink coloured dress. A hot pink satchel bag strapped over, going across her chest. Most of her supplies were packed up perfectly, and she had also found the money, now all that left was to go to pewter city to start her official journey.

Like ash had promised, they would travel together till Yancy thinks that she is ready to travel alone. And after the indigo league is over, she will come with him to pallet. His mother was hysteric when she found out about yancy's condition, and wanted nothing but for the girl to come over at their place and stay with her. But ash convinced her she would be able to meet Yancy when he returns.

"All right." Yancy said with a shaky, but bright smile. "I am ready. When do we leave?"

"...Now." ash said, motioning for the road. What the two didn't know was this simple decision started the greatest bond and friendship that this world would ever see.

 _ **The end.**_

 **Authour's notes-Phew, even such a small topic took 3k words. I am not a fan of extremely long chapters, in my mind, it creates a huge jumble. But still, this was an amazing chapter, at least for me.**

 **Yeah, so the mystery female is going to be Yancy, you know, the one whose x-transreciever is dropped in nimbassa city in the games? I don't know if there are any shippings for this particular pairing, or if anyone has shipped it, but for me, it is one of my top favs in pokemon shipping lists.**

 **As I said last chapter, there is no misty in this fanfiction. I don't know about the others, brock is there for sure. But forgetting that, well, I hope you don't mind the length and simplicity of this chapter. As I said, I am trying to update from a place where internet is only as high as 64kbps. Yeah, 64.**

 **So, as I said, ashxyancy is going to be the pairing for this story, and whatever sequels it has. Stay tuned for the next update, which is going to be coming after 4 to 5 days. I need to update the dragon king as well.**

 **Regards...omnipotent97.**


	4. Pewter city-First gym badge-Mt Moon

**Disclaimer-I don't own pokemon, It belongs to Satoshi Taijiri and the Nintendo company.**

"Talking"

" _Pokedex_ "

'Thinking'

Chapter 4- pewter city- first gym badge-mt. Moon.

Pewter city, a city situated near the mount moon, one of the biggest mountains in the region. Pewter city was an average sized city, with it's major attractions being the museum and also, the first gym badge.

Being closely associated with rocks, it was easy to know that the pewter city gym, the first gym ash would face in the region, would be a rock type gym. Now, many people would have told ash that he was being foolish to be trying to challenge the rock type gym with only one pokemon, a Pikachu to be exact, but ash was not known as the best trainer passed out from pallet for a reason. Even though he was not the strongest, he had what it took to even make an electric type strong against ground and grass types.

However, he didn't have to do that first, since now, he had one other person to take care of instead of one.

"Whoa!" Yancy muttered in awe. It was the first time she had come to such a big city, even if she lived less than a day's walk from it. She was afraid of the more stronger pokemon that appeared near the pewter city part of viridian forest, and stayed close to viridian city, near her cabin which was now destroyed. But even she couldn't help but get swept into the wave of awe that came upon looking at such a big city. "This place is huge!"

"Pewter city is famous for it's gym badge and it's museum. That is where we are going first. I have heard that there are some rather interesting things that appear in the museum." Ash said. Was it just him or was he speaking a lot more than he used to after meeting Yancy? "But I should agree, it is a great place to live in."

Not too big, not too small, it wasn't shabby, but wasn't pallet. But hey, no village in this world could be as good as pallet. But he was going to be proven wrong when he would visit certain places in the future, finding out that yes, there were places as good as pallet outside in the world.

"So what do we have to do now? I mean, except visiting the museum and picking my pokedex, what should I do?" Yancy asked. She was still new to this travelling system, and needed to be explained and taught many things. "And what about the money I have on hand? Won't that be stolen?"

"First, we go to the pokemon center." Ash said, pointing at the red roofed building in the distance. "Then, we go to the museum. Everything you need is in the pokemon center."

"Everything, like what?" Yancy asked, running slightly to catch up to ash, who had started to walk. "Wait up!"

"Like a room to stay for a night, a perfect check-up on all the pokemon you capture, food, ground and etc." Ash explained. "However, if you go in normally, you will be charged a bomb. So, you need to get admit into the normal trainer system, in which you get an all pokemon league services pass, making you enable to use the services of the pokemon center, mart and anything related to the pokemon league for a measly fee of 500 p$ per month."

"That's it?" now that was surprisingly cheap. Had she known about that before, she would have registered herself long ago. "That is something even I can afford!"

"Yes, but for that, you need to have a trainer account and pass, and for that, you need your pokedex." Ash said. Yeah, he definitely was talking a lot since leaving viridian forest. "In fact, nowadays, most of the pokemon schools have a system in which every student gets a trainer pass and account at age 10."

"W wait, do I have to give an exam?" Yancy asked, stopping, eyes wide open. "B but I won't pass! I don't have any knowledge on pokemon except berries and herbs!"

"Nah, that is only for those who want to become official trainers, like me. You want to become an entertainer or a tele-artist, so you don't need to give an exam, but don't worry, your pass will hold the same value anywhere you go." Ash said, walking inside the pokemon center. "now, just follow me."

As expected, there was a nurse joy present in this pokemon center as well. And even before she could speak, or anything could happen, ash spoke up.

"Good morning, nurse joy. I am ash ketchum, and this is Yancy orchid." Immediately, there was a ding from the pc that was on nurse joy's side of the desk. "I want to ask if there has been any deliveries on the name of Yancy orchid."

"Yes, in fact, we have 1 parcel for her, but the name of the collector is written Ash Ketchum, can I please have an Id belonging to you?" the nurse asked. "It is necessary since this is not a normal package but a very important package."

"..." ash silently handed over his pokedex to the woman, who checked it once, then re-checked it, and then handed him over both the parcel and his pokedex with a smile.

"Here you go, all is in order." The nurse said. "Welcome to the pokemon center, how can I help you now?"

"Here, please give a check-up to my Pikachu, and her meowth as well." Ash requested, causing Pikachu to jump on the tray. Yancy was slightly scared to part with meowth, but gave her away when she was promised they would be back within 10 minutes.

"So, what is in that?" Yancy asked, curious about the parcel. "And why does it have my name on it?"

"It is yours, that is why." Ash said, handing over the parcel. "In it is your official trainer ID and also, a pokedex and a set of 6 pokeballs."

As Ash said, it had a pink coloured pokedex, the difference only being the colour with ash's, and 6 pokemon, with pink coloured 'y' attached on top of all of them. There was also a separate card, that had some of yancy's details in it.

"S so now I am an official trainer?" Yancy asked after gulping once. She couldn't believe this day was ever going to come. "A and now I can go and travel around the world? Doing all that I have to?"

"Yes." Ash nodded with a very small smile on his face. "Congratulations. But first, you need to register your starter. Chose the ball with the shining sticker on it, and catch your meowth with it, automatically it will be registered in your pokedex, that way, your details will be officially complete, and you will be fit to participate in any pokemon tournament around the world."

"So I can't keep meowth outside the ball? And how does a pokemon that big even stay inside this? Won't she be suffocating?" Yancy asked, picking the ball up and giving it a full 360 degree glance. "I mean, I don't think there is a way a ball this small can contain a pokemon that big."

"..." Ash did not answer, and only blankly stared at Yancy. That was all the answer she needed, the gaze simply said 'Do you think I have a fucking clue to the answer of that question? Just do as I say, or your loss."

"A all right." She nodded, sweat dropping. She heard a coo, and looked to see the nurse coming back with meowth and Pikachu, who jumped straight onto ash's shoulder as soon as he was in range. Meowth also jumped down, rubbing her face against Yancy's leg. "Meowth. I need to do one thing to officially make you my pokemon. Umm, it will involve you to go in this ball, for a very little while, but after that, you can come back out and stay with me, l like Ash and Pikachu. W will you agree to it?"

"Nyaa~~~" Meowth nodded, preparing herself for the constraint that was going to arrive in a couple of seconds. Yancy opened the pokeball. Immediately, a red coloured light emitted out of the pokeball, and onto Meowth and enveloped it. Like a supernatural event occurring, meowth was also converted into the red coloured light, and all of it was sucked into the pokeball. The pokeball shook once, with the tip blinking red for a few seconds before it stopped with a ding. Within seconds, another ding came from Yancy's pokedex.

"N now, go, Meowth!" Yancy exclaimed, throwing the pokeball up in the air. In a flurry of red coloured light, Meowth appeared onto the ground, stretching once. "There, all done!"

"... Check the pokedex." Ash said, pointing to the device. Yelping once, as she had completely forgotten to see it, she opened the pink pokedex, and as soon as she did that, a mechanical female voice spoke up.

" _Welcome to the pokemon system, Yancy Orchid. I am dexter, the AI of this pokedex and your assistant to give you all the details of all the pokemon you record with this device. Your starter pokemon is registered as meowth. Please choose either of the following. Check pokemon stats, check main pokemon list, turn off."_ Yancy pressed on the check stats button, curious as to what moves her meowth knew. Perhaps they would be as cool as Ash's Pikachu's. " _Meowth, the cat pokemon. It adores circular objects and moves out every night in the streets to look for dropped loose change. This meowth is a female and is 1ft 4inches in height, and has the ability pickup. Her second ability is unknown as of yet and is on level is 10. She knows the moves scratch, growl, bite fake out and the egg move iron tail, which isn't developed as of yet. Choose one of the following. Egg moves, pick up ability or turn off."_

"I will look at everything else tomorrow." Yancy declared, turning off the pokedex, and looking down at her Meowth with a large smile on her face. "You are amazing Meowth! You also know some of the moves that Pikachu knows!"

"Nyaaaaan~~~" The cat purred, rubbing her face against her trainer's legs. Yancy picked her up, and hugged her tight.

"Let's go and have you registered up." ash said, pointing towards the desk. "And book 2 rooms."

"Y yes!"

* * *

"So ash!" Yancy asked her new travelling partner. "What are we going to do now? I mean, it is still not even noon. We have finished all the major stuff involving me, and are free for the entire day."

"...The museum." Ash answered, his hands in his pockets. "Then towards the gym."

"But, are you sure about that? I mean, it is a rock type gym, and you only have a Pikachu." Yancy nervously asked, not wanting to annoy or offend her partner. "I, I mean, don't you think you should catch at least 1 more pokemon?"

"No." Ash stated, coming to a stop. "I believe in Pikachu."

"Pika Pikachu!" the yellow rodent cheered from Ash's shoulder.

"W well, if you believe in your pokemon, who am I to stop you." Yancy said, taking a deep breath to ease her of her worries. "And in your defence, your Pikachu is super strong."

"Don't give him a big head." Ash said, glaring slightly at her, who yelped when those red orbs turned towards her. Goodness gracious! He was scary! "And also, don't think you are going to be debarred from the training. Your Meowth, though strong, is not strong enough to cope up to many pokemon we are going to face, even if you don't want to do battles, you need to be strong enough to protect yourself."

"Y yes!" she could not say no to that. It was her duty to at least take care of herself, he had already done so much for her. "You have a deal!"

The rest of their trip in the museum was spent in silence. What ash's thoughts about the museum were could be summarised in only one word, overrated.

There was nothing much in there, just some photos, fossils and some other stuff that you could very easily imitate, easily made by carving on any rock you find.

So now, their focus was in the gym, or rather, ash's focus was going to the gym, and winning his first gym badge.

* * *

"Who goes there?" A man, squinty eyed, wearing an orange coloured t-shirt and a green vest and brown coloured pants held by a belt with a golden buckle asked. He had dark skin, and was sitting Indian style on a rock in the rocky field of the gym. He looked to be 4 to 5 years older than ash.

"My name is Ash Ketchum from pallet town." Ash said, emotionless as ever. "And I am here for a gym battle."

"Fine." The man, also appearing emotionless, stated. "I am Brock Slate, the gym leader of the pewter city gym, and I accept your challenge."

Now, we find Ash standing on one side of the field and Brock on the other. A boy, perhaps somewhere a year below ash's age was standing in the refree's box, and Yancy was sitting in the bleachers with her Meowth on her lap, cheering for him.

"You can do it ash!" she called out to him, though not as loudly as she should have been. "You are strong enough."

"..." He looked towards yancy, red eyes meeting blue. Then, he smiled at her with a nod, and looked back towards the battlefield. The message of appreciation and gratitude was conveyed. And for some reason, Yancy felt her heart skip a beat when he smiled at her.

"Nyaa!" meowth also showed her support.

"This will be a 2 on 2 Battle between trainer Ash Ketchum of pallet town and Gym leader Brock Slate of pewter city." The boy shouted out with his hands in the air, spread out, right towards Ash and left towards Brock. "Only the challenger is allowed to switch their pokemon between rounds and he will get the first move. Trainers, please call out your pokemon."

"Let's go, Geodude!" brock exclaimed, calling out his first pokemon from his pokeball. A small brown coloured circular rock with 2 arms coming out of its side. It had slanted eyes and also a mouth below his eyes, and was made out of rock entirely.

"Geo Geodude!" the pokemon said in its language with a voice which surprisingly suited it. Ash checked the pokedex once.

" _Geodude, the rock boulder pokemon. It is said to be having great defensive power and are often found on hills. Because of its appearance looking very similar to a rock, people often step on it._ "

"..." ash nodded towards Pikachu, who ran towards the field and stood on a rock. If Brock was surprised by his choice, he didn't show it. "Pikachu, stand by for battle."

"Pikachu!" the rodent exclaimed, flexing his arms. "Pika!"

"Round 1, Pikachu vs Geodude. Let the battle begin!" The refree waved his arms downwards in a swiping motion, starting the battle.

"Use quick attack." Ash commanded, making Pikachu vanish in a blur with a strange white coloured light trailing it. "Don't attack it, just move around."

"Geodude, use mud sport!" Brock shouted, making geodude release a lot of mud from it's mouth towards the air, it falling down all around the field. "Now use rock throw!"

The rock type pokemon picked up a rock from the ground, and threw it towards Pikachu who, with his speed from the quick attack, was able to dodge it easily.

"Get close." Ash said. "Then use iron tail from the other direction."

Pikachu sped up even more and got close to the Geodude. However, unlike brock expected, it vanished exactly when it came in front of it, and appeared behind Geodude. His zigzag tail had a metallic sheen to it.

"Pika...CHU!" Pikachu slammed the iron tail on top of geodude's head, which combined with the steel type super effective move and the speed from the quick attack did a lot of damage to Geodude.

"Geodude!" Brock shouted, worried for his pokemon. "Are you okay? Hang on in there!"

"Pikachu, brick break to finish it." ash gave his final order. Pikachu jumped up in the air again, and slammed his hand on top of Geodude, and this time, the rock type pokemon couldn't stay conscious.

"Geodude~" the pokemon was slammed into the ground, unconscious with spirals in his eyes. Pikachu jumped back on the rock, and raised one of his arms in the air with a v sign.

"Pika!" he cheered.

"Geodude cannot battle, the winner of this round is Pikachu." The refree shouted, inwardly surprised as an electric type had somehow managed to beat a rock type. "Gym leader Brock, please send out your next pokemon."

"I never thought an electric type would ever beat my Geodude, ash, but then again, pokemon can never be underestimated." Brock said, recalling his Geodude. "Rest my friend, you did great. Now Ash, I am sorry to say this, but it is the end of the battle. Let's go, onix!"

The pokemon that came out of the pokeball was a large pile of rocks attached to make a snake like formation, with the top having one singe horn. It was large, very large, towering over Pikachu.

"OOONNNIXXX!" the pokemon shouted, roaring it's name. Yancy eeped in shock, and hugged meowth as safety, who herself was shivering in Yancy's arms.

"S scary~" she muttered weakly. Ash gauged the pokemon and looked down towards Pikachu who was looking unsure of himself.

"Pikachu." Ash called out to his partner, who looked back towards ash. Ash nodded towards him, and gave a calming and cheering smile, no matter how small it was. "You can do it, I believe in you."

Pikachu's eyes widened at seeing the belief in the red eyes of his trainer. Somehow, the determination flamed up inside of him, and Pikachu looked at onix back, glaring at it.

"Round 2, Pikachu vs Onix, begin!"

"Onix, use bind!" The rocky tail of Onix came up to grab Pikachu, but ash had other ideas.

"Jump atop its tail, and climb towards its head." Ash commanded. "As soon as you reach up, use brick break!"

Pikachu got on top of onix's head, and got ready to use the attack, however, Brock was prepared for it.

"Onix, toss him up in the air!" Onix suddenly jerked his head upwards, sending Pikachu high up in the air. "Now grab it and use wrap!"

Ash growled as he saw his plan failing. He needed to improvise now.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in pain. The onix was too big and strong. He needed to get out now.

Ash's attention suddenly went to the roof when he saw something glinting, and he then got an idea, a very bright idea.

"Pikachu, use thunder shock on the roof!" brock, the refree and even Yancy were bamboozled by ash's move. Why on the roof? But Pikachu believed in what his trainer was saying, and shot the thunder shock up in the air and into the roof.

You see, there were auto fire extinguishers above, now, if Ash's Pikachu uses an electric type move up there, the sprinklers would sort out, and cause water to fall down. And that is what happened.

The sprinkles rained down on Onix with water, completely soaking it, and making it slippery enough for Pikachu to get out of its grip and stand back down. Brock's jaw was touching the ground. It wasn't cheating, but it wasn't a normal move either.

"Pikachu, time to finish this." Ash said, raising a hand in the air and towards onix. "Use electro ball!"

"Pika..." Electric energy started to swirl around on Pikachu's tail, forming a compressed ball of electricity on the tip. "CHU!"

Pikachu shot the electro ball on onix, which now due to it being wet, was effected heavily by the electric type attack, making it slam down onto the ground, swirls instead of eyes. Ash had won the battle, with only a Pikachu.

"... Forrest!" Brock called out to his brother, unknown to anyone but him, who couldn't respond due to the shocking turn of events. He snapped out of it when his name was called, and looked towards Brock, who nodded.

"O onix cannot battle! The winner of the round is Pikachu. Since the gym leader is out of pokemon, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet town!" The boy, Forrest, who was acting like a refree, said.

"You did it, ash!" Yancy shouted, getting up and dashing towards the red eyed teen. Perhaps, she was even more happy than ash himself. She almost tackled him to the ground. "You won!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu did tackle him to the ground. Ash laughed silently and hugged Pikachu back. He did a good job.

"Thank you, Yancy, your support helped a lot. Thank you, Pikachu, you did great. And you too, Meowth." Ash said, adding the last part when Meowth hissed at him for forgetting her. He heard a cough in front of him where he saw Brock, who though downtrodden, had a smile on his face.

"Ash, I have never met a trainer who not only uses their own pokemon's strength, but also the surroundings. That last move not only made me realise that I need to improvise on my gym's layouts, but also my battling style, and get some pokemon that are not only rock type, but also a type that is stronger against rock's weakness. Here, you deserve this." Brock said, holding out a badge, a gray coloured badge, the rock badge. "It's the rock badge."

"Thank you." Ash said, accepting the badge, and looking at its gleam, Pikachu sitting on Ash's shoulder, looking at it himself with sparkling eyes. It was so cool! "It was a great match."

"Y yes!" Yancy also added her thoughts. "I got to learn many things from watching such a cool battle."

"Oh, so you aren't going to battle me?" Brock asked, inwardly sad. He wanted another battle like that one. "Any reason for that?"

"I don't want to go into battles." Yancy said, looking sideways in embarrassment as all the attention was on her. She wasn't used to be getting much attention. "I want to be a TV artist in the future, so I don't want to take part in gym battles."

"Oh, it's okay then, I understand what it means to follow a dream." Brock said, rubbing the back of his head. "I myself don't want to be a gym leader. You know, how about I treat you both to lunch? I am sure we can exchange some stories over it."

Ash, Pikachu, Yancy and Meowth exchanged looks, and nodded.

"We would love to." The two humans said, one happily and the other in his usual voice.

* * *

"So you want to be a breeder." Ash asked Brock. He had to admit, Brock was an amazing cook. Hell he was sure only his mother would be able to give Brock a competition in cooking. "Then why are you a Gym leader? I am sure it is a completely different line."

"It is." Brock sighed, sadly, and looked towards a picture. "You see, my mother and father had a big fight and my mother left the house for that without saying or telling anyone. My father followed soon, leaving me to take care of my siblings and myself. My father is actually the gym leader, and I had just taken the exams when I was substituted because of my father's disappearance. My real dream is to be a great pokemon breeder."

"I am sure one day you will achieve your dream." Yancy said, knowing what it feels when a parent leaves their child. "I mean, I know what you feel. Even my parents had left me when I was 4. I was living in the viridian forest till 2 days ago when Ash found me and due to an incident, I got the chance to leave and travel with ash."

"I am sorry to hear that." Brock sympathised with the girl. At least he was old enough. "So, what are your plans now, Ash?"

"Mount Moon first, then Cerulean city." Ash said, looking towards the mountain in the distance. "I need to train my Pikachu a lot if I am not able to catch a pokemon in there that suits my battle style."

"Well, luckily for you, the Cerulean city gym is a water type gym." Brock said, a dreamy hue appearing in his eyes. "And the leaders out there are as beautiful as the water itself!~~"

"Uhh, B brock?" Yancy asked, unsure of herself. "A are you okay?"

Ash on the other hand deadpanned. He was a pervert, wasn't he? But who was he to judge, Brock was a cool guy.

"Well, forgetting that. Brock, if you ever get a chance, you can always travel with me." Ash said, giving a proposition. "I am sure we could learn a ton of things from each other."

"Y yes!" Yancy also added with a smile. "Y you are amazing to know so many skills."

"Now, don't make me feel embarrassed." Brock said, rubbing the back of his head. "B but, thank you for the proposition. I will see if I am able to come."

* * *

'So, today we leave for Mount Moon.' Ash thought, looking towards the path. 'Hmm, Pikachu is at level 18, and if what Brock said was correct, then I am going to have an easy time at the gym in Cerulean. And I need to help Yancy to train as well. Speaking of her, when is she going to come out?'

Ash was standing in front of the pokemon centre, waiting for Yancy to come out of the building. Why did all the girls take so long to dress up? His mother also took half an hour to dress up, even when they were going to see a simple movie!

"S sorry to keep you waiting, ash!" Yancy said, running out of the room. She had only one change from her previous outfit, and that was, instead of the inner dress being baby pink coloured, it was baby blue. "I needed to change my outfit, that one wasn't exactly clean."

".." ash nodded, and pointed his head towards the road, Pikachu already on his shoulder.

"Let's go!" Yancy, due to some reason, was also quite hyped up for the journey. It could be because she was for the first time going so far away from home, or also because she was going to achieve her dream. Anyways, back on track, ash and Yancy were just about to get out of the village, when a voice stopped them.

"Ash! Yancy! Stop!" Turning around, they saw Brock running towards them, due to some reason, he had a bag with him as well. "*Huff*, *Huff*, I made it."

"Oh, Brock, what are you doing here?" Yancy asked. "And why do you look as if you are going somewhere?"

"W well, you see, my father came home yesterday, and asked for forgiveness because he was listening to our conversation yesterday. So he came back to take responsibility of the gym and his duties again." Brock explained. Ash caught on immediately. "S so, as you said, I could join you guys if I had a chance. I hope you weren't bluffing."

"Of course we weren't!" Ash was the one to say that. He never bluffed, sorry, not against such serious stuff. "You can ofcourse come with us."

"It will be great!" Yancy cheered. "The more the merrier, right?"

"T thank you guys, I promise not to hold you back." And so, another friendship that could never be broken was formed. Now, the newly formed trio had to face the darker stuff that adorned this world as they made their way to Mount moon.

* * *

"So Brock, have you ever been in Mount Moon?" Yancy asked the newest and the oldest addition of their group. It had been 2 hours since they left pewter city, and now, they were nearing the pokemon centre below Mount Moon, where they would stop for some time, almost an hour before leaving. One thing new was that Yancy had faced her first battle against a bug catcher, and had won.

The bug catcher had 4 pokemon, all under level 10, but Yancy's Meowth stayed firm, and was able to defeat his team of a Caterpie, a Weedle, a Metapod and a Kakuna. Caterpie was a small green coloured caterpillar pokemon, similarly, Weedle was a small creamish yellow colour pokemon. Caterpie eveolved into Metapod, a green coloured cocoon pokemon, and Weedle into Kakuna, a yellow coloured cocoon pokemon. In the end, Yancy won her first ever pokemon battle, and that was the point.

"Yes, when I was small." Brock said, looking up at the mountain. "If I remember, I had gone quite above in the mountain to explore, and also had gotten my Geodude from there."

"Onix was your starter?" Ash asked, an eyebrow raised in interest. It wasn't something unusual for a trainer to start out with a different pokemon than the usual 3, him as an example. But starting out with that big a pokemon? Brock nodded. "Now that's something."

"My father gave him to me when I was 8, and I got Geodude when I was 10. I didn't have a chance to train them much because I had many duties in the house after my parents left, but now I think I might train, and catch some pokemon as well." Brock said, looking down on his belt to see his 2 pokeballs. "But I don't know how many rock types are there in kanto."

"Why do you want to catch only rock types?" Yancy asked, a cute face of confusion on her face. "I mean, even if you were a rock type gym leader, you can keep other pokemon now since you aren't a gym leader now."

"She's right." Ash said, red eyes trailing one at brock. "You need to get a variety of pokemon if you want to be a breeder, because a breeder is not an expert in raising pokemon of a single type, but all types, or that is what I think a breeder is."

"No, you are right in a way, but not only raising, it involves many things." Brock explained his profession. "A breeder is not only a pokemon trainer that trains his or her pokemon to be strong, but also raises it, takes care of it, makes sure it is in perfect condition and also makes sure it lives it's life to the fullest. So I don't only need to train a pokemon, I need to know it as I do my family and take care of it as if he is my family."

"That's a tough job." Yancy said after listening. "But I think you can manage it."

"...Never give up." Ash said, coming to an abrupt halt. "You hear that?"

"What?" The other two asked. Pikachu's ears twitched, and Meowth suddenly went alert, both of them growling at the bushes ahead. A man suddenly rushed out of them, wearing a lab-coat and glasses.

"HELP ME!" the man shouted, running towards the group of travellers. "Please, help me! They aren't leaving my tail!"

Behind him, there was a horde of flying pokemon, all violet in colour with purple underwings. They had no eyes, but had large mouths, and were making weird sounds.

" _Zubat, the bat pokemon. This pokemon lives in caves and uses echolocation to find out its prey. Anyone who interrupts their nest will be hunted down till they are far away from it."_ Yancy's pokedex said. "That sounds like a tough pokemon."

"S STOP STANDING AROUND AND BATTLE THEM!" The scientist shouted from behind them. He was cowering. "P PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!"

"Pikachu, thunder shock!"

"Geodude, use multiple rock throws!"

Ash and Brock were quick to react, using super effective moves on the horde of zubat, knocking down many of them. Not wanting to be left behind, Yancy also made up her mind.

"Meowth! Use fury swipes!" Meowth jumped up in the air, and started to slash the zubats rapidly, again and again, taking down multiple of them.

While Ash and Yancy were taking down all of them, Brock had sneakily captured one. Within minutes, all of the zubats ran back away to their homes.

"T thank you." The scientist said, sighing in relief. "I didn't know there were these many Zubats in that place."

"Zubats are real sneaky pokemon." Brock said, looking at the pokeball in hich he had caught the Zubat in. "Luckily, I was able to catch one."

"Really? When?" Yancy asked in curiousity, using her pokedex to scan the pokeball. "Well, it is on level 12, knows the moves gut, leech life, screech and bite, that's a good move set, I guess."

"..." Ash didn't speak, only continued to look up at the top of the mountain. "Can you tell me something mr..."

"Seymor." The scientist introduced himself. "I am Seymor."

"Mr Seymor, can you tell me why were you inside Mt Moon?" Ash asked, looking at the scientist straight in the eye. "If I have read properly, and heard properly, I am sure that researching in Mt Moon is strictly prohibited outside of a timeframe, which I believe is in the month of march, and I am sure that the month as of now is January as my birthday went only a couple of weeks ago."

"You are correct, it is the month of January, but I am not here for research. I am hired by the Kanto police force, and am from the laboratory of Cinnabar Island, you can call me Doctor Seymor." The doctor proudly stated. "You see, lately, there have been reports of people coming out of Mt moon with very dangerous attack marks, nearly fatal. So the Kanto police hired the Cinnabar lab, who sent me to get initial recordings of what is going on inside the inner caves of Mt moon. I don't have any pokemon with me, but I didn't need because everything is controlled by remote, I only had to send rovers. However, when I set up the first one, these Zubats came out of nowhere and started to attack me. If you don't believe me, I can show you all the documents."

"No, it's okay." Being the older person, Brock decided to talk professionally with the man. No offense to Ash, he might have more experience in that matter, but ash wasn't exactly too social, and ash appreciated the gesture, and stood back. "We just were curious because there have been a lot of dark things that have been going around."

"It's quite good of you to ask that actually." The professor said, getting up and dusting himself. "Now, how about we go to the lab that I had set up? The pokemon centre had been closed down due to the increasing attacks, and will re-open after one month."

"Sure." The three nodded. They needed rest anyway before trying to find a safe way through Mount Moon.

* * *

"A lightened tunnel inside Mt Moon?" Brock asked, clearly surprised by the news. "No way, that's not possible, why would someone install lights inside a cave? It's not possible for someone to do that, it is a crime to install anything inside Mt Moon without the permission of the police or the government."

"We know, but I have checked every single tunnel, and I found nothing in the end except one thing, a large piece of stone, a large Moonstone." The doctor said, showing the image of the stone. The camp he had set up wasn't small or big. It was one of those camps in the movies set up to research some stuff. "Also, I found that this unusual lighting has had pokemon behave unnaturally and tire out, like Zubat, who don't exactly live in the light."

"Ignoring all that," Ash, having taken a look at the map of the explored areas of the mountain, asked seymor. "Did you find a safe way through?"

"Well, all the ways aren't dangerous as per say. The only thing is, you need to be strong enough to defeat anything that comes in your way." Seymor said, trying to pack some stuff into the bag. "If you could be kind enough, can I come with you guys? I want to take a look inside personally, but I don't have any pokemon."

"Sure." Yancy, Ash and Brock said.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded. Tracking even with a map inside Mt Moon was difficult. The caves were long and tiny, and also a lot suffocating. They knew that once they reached the topmost cavern, they had to start getting down towards the east, where the Cerulean city exit was. However, they found the people causing the trouble in the way of their hiking.

"What the!" Seymor shouted. "Who are you?!"

"Intruders." The men, dressed in weird black suits with red R's on the chest said, few of them releasing some pokemon for battle. "Go Ratata/koffing/grimer!"

"Hey, isn't that team rocket's symbol?" Yancy asked, Meowth already standing by for battle. "What happened to those 3?"

"I don't know, but we have other stuff to deal with right now." Ash said, nodding towards Pikachu who stood with rapidly sparking cheeks. "Pikachu, don't back out."

"Zubat, let's have our first battle together!" Brock called out for his newest pokemon. "Let's show these people what it means to be the bad guys!"

Their opponents were a koffing, similar to the one james had, a Ratata, a small purple and white coloured rat pokemon with 2 large fangs and a Grimer, a small poison slime pokemon.

"Ratata, hyper fang/Grimer, sludge/Koffing, smog!" The 3 rocket grunts shouted out their moves. All of them were dodged.

"Pikachu, use electroball on grimer." Ash.

"Meowth, you use fury swipes on Ratata!" Yancy.

"Zubat, air cutter on koffing!" Brock.

3 moves, all it took to defeat the 3 pokemon, seemed like they weren't all that strong.

"Grr, we will remember this!" And without anything to say, they ran away. "You made your biggest mistake to make team rocket your enemies!"

* * *

"Phew, all set." Seymor said, after having checked every cave of the Mountain. "They were the only people that there were, no one else. I found the source of the problem, and with your help, we dealt with it as well. Ash, Brock, Yancy, thank you very much."

"You are welcome." They were standing on the cerulean city end of the Mt Moon, and now with the mountain safe again, the pokemon center could be re-set.

"Now, I can't just let you go without anything as a piece of my gratitude." Seymor said, removing some stuff from his pocket. "Here."

Brock had gotten a rock, but it had a sort of design on it of a claw. Ash had gotten an item finder and Yancy had gotten a pokeball, but it had a pokemon in it.

"A claw fossil?" Brock asked, amazed. "I don't believe it! Where did you find this from?"

"Inside the cave when I came here initially." Seymor said. "I am also an expert on reviving pokemon from their fossils, but I don't have the proper gear here. If you ever pass through Cinnabar, please come to the lab where I can get the pokemon inside that fossil for you."

"Sure." Brock said, looking back down to take a better look.

"For you ash, I have an item finder. It will help you find hidden items nearby. Not exactly something to be gifted, but still good." Seymor said. Ash didn't say anything, just nodded. Finally, it was Yancy's turn.

"Yancy, you have a pokemon as a gift for you, something which will suit you perfectly." Seymor said. "Go on, open it."

"W well, if you say so." Yancy took a deep breath, and called out for the pokemon inside. "Go, pokemon!"

The pokemon that came out was a small pink coloured pokemon with black tips for ears. It was shaped like a star, and was entirely pink.

"Clefairy!" The pokemon, a Clefairy called out its name, waving an arm at its new trainer.

"Nyaa!" Meowth started to chat with the pokemon, the two becoming friends quickly. Yancy checked her pokedex once.

" _Clefairy, the star pokemon. Clefairy are said to be rare pokemon not found anywhere, and they bring incredibly good luck to people._ " The dexter said. Yancy smiled, and bent down.

"Hello clefairy, my name is Yancy." She introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, I hope we can have a fun journey around."

"Cle!" the pokemon cheered, jumping into yancy's arms, who giggled. The others smiled at the scene, all happy for her, and themselves.

But Ash knew that what the grunts had said could be true. He needed to make sure to take care now, or it would end badly for all of them, but nothing could keep that excited grin of his face.

It was the best idea he had ever had, to go on a journey.

 _ **The end.**_

 **Authour's notes- Now that was a doozy to write. Perhaps the longest I have written for this story. Yeah, almost 7000 words not counting my notes. Anyways, here is the 4** **th** **chapter of the fanfiction, hope you like it.**

 **About the slightly different stuff, I said that I was going to mix the anime and the games, so don't complain about why it is different from the games or the anime. The next chapter is going to contain some major plot details, like ash getting 2 new pokemon and Yancy getting a goal for her journey around kanto.**

 **Now, you can wonder about what it might be, I am sure you know what pokemon ash is going to get, I will give you a hint, they are 2 starters. Their stories will be different from the anime, of course, but it will be epic, I can say that. And about Yancy, as I said, it is an even introduced after Gen 4, so you might know what that is.**

 **Now, let's talk about something I wanted to about the future of this story. I have played a lot of pokemon, perhaps since I was 7, I have been playing pokemon. I have a DS, an Advance Sp, a Wii and once upon a time, I also had a game cube. So I have played all games from Gen 3, including FRLG, RSE, XD, DPPT, HGSS, BW, B2W2 and also the mystery dungeon series. As a side fact, the side games are awesome. But ignoring that, let's move on to the fact about 3DS. Due to some financial troubles, and my own final examinations, I chose not to buy a 3DS so, I have never played XY or ORAS. So, when I come to kalos in this fic, if I ever get to that, it will be troublesome. But let's ignore that for now. Kalos is a long time away, I am just telling you the fact that it will be a while before I start writing kalos in this story as soon as unova is over.**

 **Now, About Ash's strength. I am not going to lie, when I first played Fire red, the first pokemon I caught was a Pikachu inside viridian forest. After that, I went back to catch pidgey. And when I took on brock, I had a** _ **20**_ **level Pikachu, a 10 level pidgey and a 11 level charmander, my starter. Yes, a 20 level Pikachu. So, I can easily say that if I can do that, I can write that as well. And I said that ash is going to be OP and OOC, so, no complaints.**

 **I should thank all of you who follow me, and also give me support and help me write better, and I hope you keep on doing that to me. Enough of my blabbering. I will get in the next update exactly 3 days after I update the dragon king, which must be coming somewhere between the 1** **st** **and the 5** **th** **of November, so, yeah, a long wait, but I can't ignore that story as well.**

 **And because that story is much more difficult to write, I can't rush it like I am doing for this, because, I wrote chapters in half the amount of time I took for that story.**

 **So, yeah, see you next time.**

 **Regards...Omnipotent97.**


	5. Ash's first captures-Yancy's new goal

**Disclaimer-I don't own pokemon or any of the characters in this fic. All the credits go to satoshi taijiri and the Nintendo company.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _pokemon point of view._

Chapter 5- Ash's first captures-Yancy's new goal.

Ash, Yancy and Brock were en-route to Cerulean city, the home of the second Gym badge for Ash. There were also many other things to do in Cerulean city, like visit the Cerulean Cape, one of the most romantic places in kanto.

However, it wasn't as easy as it looked because even if the way was mostly downhill, it was still far away, and reaching Cerulean city wasn't easy, it was an entire day's walk from the exit of Mount moon. But they were lucky that they had Brock with them, who had known about this fact, and had decided to pack some more supplies from then intended.

"Wow Brock, your stews are amazing!" Yancy delightfully said after taking a sip of the food offered to her. She had removed her hat and her shirt, and was sitting only in her baby blue dress. "I have eaten stews for dinner for the past 3 to 4 years, and I never can make a stew so good."

"It is good." Ash only said that much. Though he was a lot more talkative than he was in pallet, he still tried to control his speaking. "Not better than my mother though no offenses."

"None taken." Brock waved it off. "Mother's are always the best cooks. I am sure your mother is a good cook, even if she is a businesswoman and the owner of one of the world's most prestigious companies. Let's ignore that. So Ash, have you decided on as to what are you going to do for the Cerulean city gym? Even though a water type, you need atleast one pokemon that is there for support."

"I don't know, but I will try to find a good one." The boy said, closing his eyes and enjoying the stew he had in a bowl in front of him. "For now though, I would like to get some considerable distance in today. It's barely hitting noon, and we are near to the outskirts of Cerulean city, perhaps we might make it by evening."

"That will be a good thing, if that happens, actually." Brock said, looking up at the sky, which much to his satisfaction didn't have a single cloud in it. "The sky is with us for that though, hopefully, the road isn't bad. By the way Yancy, have you decided on as to what are you going to do about your future?"

"W well, I want to be a tv star, or an actor in the future." Suddenly, she found herself not only under the gaze of 2 squinted eyes, but also 2 red orbs, filled to the brim with curiosity. "I haven't decided on it yet, actually. But I know I don't want to do battles. I battled 3 people inside mount moon, and I didn't find them as exciting as ash says he finds them."

"Well, that is alright, but you know there aren't many other things in this world, right? I mean, the pokemon league association has got very few things that do not pertain to battling. And for becoming a actor, you not only need good talent, but also some skill. I don't mean anything offensive, but it is not exactly the best of the lines to chose." Brock said. Yancy looked down, pouting slightly as she realised what Brock was saying was correct. "But I won't stop you from doing anything you want. As all say, you should listen to others, but only do what your heart says."

"...You will do great." Ash only said, getting up and discarding the plastic bowl he was eating the food in. "Just don't lose hope."

With the Mount Moon now behind them, our 3 heroes start to trek towards Cerulean city, however, they didn't know of what was to come in the following 24 hours.

* * *

 _The screeches of those birds were still very audible in his ears, those razor sharp claws, picking him up from his sanctuary, and depositing him in their nest. He had been able to escape, somehow, but he didn't think it was going to be so easy to live. His entire body was scratched over, and his legs were now shaking._

 _All he had to do was stop and lie down, stop and simply lie down, and get lost in the endless dreams, forever. Perhaps he would see his parents that way. But alas, the fates didn't have any good things written for him as those calls came out again, the calls of the birds, the calls of his mortal enemy._

 _However, it seems that the gods wanted him to have a chance. Cold red eyes, a yellow coloured rodent, sparking with electricity, and 2 other humans behind the first one, gasping when they saw his state, he was satisfied to hear the painful cries of those beings that were diving down for him._

 _The last thing he saw before passing out was the red eyes, holding care, worry and for a strange reason, excitement._

* * *

"How's he?" Yancy asked Brock and Ash who were working on the small bulbasaur. "He looked pretty Ash noticed him."

"He'll live." Brock said, wiping a sweat. They had travelled for only 2 hours before Ash suddenly spotted some Fearrow, large birds flying above a particular Pokemon, a Bulbasaur. Immediately, ash could make out that they were going to kill it, and there was no way he was going to allow it.

He had shared a look with Pikachu, who jumped in front of ash, and had unleashed a thundershock powerful enough to send the birds packing away, and since then, Ash and Brock were working on the Bulbasaur, Ash putting in all his efforts as well.

"But he won't be how he should be." Ash finished, sighing tiredly as he wrapped the injuries on the small 4 legged pokemon's leg. "And he will take a while to recover."

"For a rookie trainer you know a surprising but of first aid, Ash." Brock praised him. "Most of the times new trainers don't know anything about how to care for a pokemon. It is impressive to see you doing such a good job at it."

"My mother made sure I was independent since my father's death back when I was 4. Before she became a businesswoman, she worked as a nurse in the pokemon centre, for 4 years as a part time job." Ash explained, sitting on a bench set up near the lake they had set camp on. "She taught me cooking, first aid, science, economics, maths, survival anything you can name. Her reasons were that in case something ever happened to her, I would be able to take care of myself."

"That's a good mother you have got there." Yancy said, almost jealously. "And look at my mother, abandoning me in a forest without anything to live with."

"We all have faced through hard times." Brock said, smiling sadly. "It is best that we learn from them, instead of raving about them."

"Yeah." Yancy nodded, finally getting to take a look at the bulbasaur herself. "Wow, he looks in a real bad shape there."

"Poor guy probably has some broken bones, torn muscles and also many life threatening injuries on him." Ash said, checking his supplies. "We need to move towards Cerulean the first thing tomorrow. I don't have much medicine, barely enough to cater for Pikachu."

"Hmm, I do have some on me, but it won't be enough to last a day." Brock said, looking into his own bag. "I am guessing you don't have anything as well, Yancy?"

"Nope, but I can make some if we find herbs." Yancy said, grinning confidently. "I used to take care of many injured pokemon around my cabin, so I know some herbal mixture that will help us at least as a substitute for the anti-biotic medicine. But I doubt we will find any herbs of medicinal value around here."

"The most I see is oran berries, and a couple pecha berry plants around." Brock said, looking across the river where the plants were. "And then nothing else. Ash is right, we need to get to Cerulean first thing in the morning. If not, this Bulbasaur won't survive."

"But how will we get it to the Cerulean city pokemon centre?" Yancy asked, pointing towards the Bulbasaur. "I mean, look at its size! I doubt I can hold anything that big."

"I will have to catch it." Ash said, looking up. "It's the only way. I will release it after its healed, but I will catch it, no sorry, I will catch him."

"That's a proper choice, Ash." Brock said, getting up from beside the bulbasaur and going towards the fire. "Now, I am hungry. Who wants dinner?"

* * *

Late in the night, Yancy was sitting outside near the lake, looking up at the stars. Now in a night dress, which consisted of a simple pink coloured printed shirt and pyjama's, her pink hair unrestrained and flowing wildly behind her due to the wind. Her legs were in the slightly cool water, and both Meowth and Clefairy were beside her, looking at their trainer with slightly worried eyes.

Ever since the prospect of future goals had come, Yancy had been deep in thought. Ash wanted to be a trainer and enjoy his life before he got into the serious stuff. Brock wanted to be a breeder and then some other line that he hadn't decided. But she was the only one who didn't have a possible goal, just a dream to become a TV star one day.

'What do I want to do?' She asked the heavens, the only person she could ask. 'Should I become a trainer like Ash? Or try and do something else, because if I don't do it then I am just a liability to the group.'

"Nyaa~" Meowth rubbed her head against Yancy's hand as she tried to gain her attention. Said girl looked down at the two pokemon of hers.

"Clefairy!" The pink coloured star pokemon waved it's arms. "Cle-fairy! Clefairy!"

"It's nothing to worry about you two." Yancy smiled, rubbing both of their heads slightly. "I just want to make sure I am useful to the group, and not just a dead weight."

"..." From behind, Ash stared at her, the girl still haven't had noticed him. His red eyes were softened, and held a sort of a glint of a man who could understand what the other was feeling. "...You aren't a dead weight."

Yancy eeped when she heard the emotionless and apathetic voice from behind her. Turning around, she saw Ash and Pikachu, both looking at her.

"Pika!" The rodent jumped down from Ash's shoulder, and towards Yancy. He did a few motions, something about dancing, and something about music. "Pikachu, kapi!"

"...There are many other things you can do." Ash said, sitting down beside Yancy. He was wearing a red coloured t-shirt and casual black shorts going till his knees. "Training doesn't mean you have to battle, you can train your pokemon to do anything you want. Let it be dancing, drawing, rescuing, playing an instrument etc. You just have to find out what it takes that makes your pulse race. You have to find your moxie."

"My...moxie?" Yancy asked in confusion, before her face lit up in understanding. "Isn't that the term used for my will and my enthusiasm about a job used in that movie about the night guard in the museum in which all the artefacts come back to life? You mean that thing is real?"

"Of course it is." Ash nodded, scoping a palm full of water, and bringing it to his mouth to drink. "Like every drop of water has it's moxie to go to the ocean, or every pokemon has it's moxie to prove itself, you need to find yours. You need to find where your heart lies, and I will be glad to help you in that."

Ash put a hand in his pocket, and pulled out a paper, a brochure and handed it to Yancy.

"Read it, I found it lying around near the abandoned pokemon centre in mount moon. I didn't know what to do with it, but now I do." Ash said, looking back up at the stars.

Yancy opened the brochure and read out loud.

" **To all those interested in being on the big screen. I know you have wondered how will you do it, how will you get to be on the big screen one day, with thousands of fans chanting your name, and with people worshiping you. Well, there's an answer to that. Recently introduced by the pokemon league extra-curricular faction, this event will blow your mind. Introducing, pokemon musicals. Now, not only you have to show your skills, and your talent at entertaining people, but also your pokemon, but a conjunction of dancing and music, a mega carnival event. Now focusing on the other factors your pokemon has instead of strength and moves, you have to bring out the coolness, the cuteness, the smartness, the toughness and the beauty of your pokemon, and show it off to the world in the form of making them dance in an orderly fashion. This is the appeal round of the pokemon musical, in which it will be decided which one of the 8 will go forward to the next round, the second round of the pokemon musical, in which you will have to battle out by comparing with the pokemon opposite to yours. But this is no normal pokemon battle, no sir. This battle is of who can perform better, you, or your opponent. The one who has the spotlight on him will be the winner, and the one to win all the battles in the musical will be the one who will be known as the performer of the day and will win one performer rom. After you get 3 rom's, you will be getting a chance to compete in the pokemon orchestra held in 8 months, just before the league starts in the indigo plateau. So what are you waiting for? Sign up at your nearest pokemon center, young musicians. Registrations for an event close 3 days before the event you want to take part in. The first musical is to be held in Vermillion city on the 9** **th** **of February. Register now!** "

9th of February, exactly 2 weeks away from now. Yancy looked down at the brochure with her eyes wide.

"B but, don't you think this is a bit too much for me?" Yancy said, looking back at Ash. "I mean, don't you think I am not ready for this yet?"

"...It's not you who decides that." Ash said, looking back at her. "Look down to your left."

She was greeted with the sight of her 2 pokemon, both of them having looks of determination on their faces. They believed in themselves, they believed in _her._ Gulping down her hesitation, she looked back down on the brochure, and then back up at the stars.

"Okay then." Yancy said, smiling in some confidence. "I will try my very best to win this!"

"Great that is what makes you someone who can achieve their dreams." Ash said, grinning. For the first time, she had seen him grin. All she was used to was that usual charming smile of his. However, she was confused.

What was that feeling in her chest she got when he grinned? It felt...good. She wanted more of it.

* * *

"His condition is getting worse." Brock said, looking over the Bulbasaur once again. "We need to get it to the pokemon centre now!"

"But cerulean is still about 2 hours walking away." Yancy said, eyes suddenly widening in realisation. "B Brock, if we don't get it into a pokemon centre, will it..."

"Yes." The older teen nodded grimly. "He will die."

"I won't let that happen." Ash said, bringing out a pokeball. "I know this might feel weird and slightly painful for you condition, but I need you to go in this pokeball, or you will die."

The Bulbasaur didn't answer, just mumbled something, and then went back to the laboured breathing he had.

As opened the pokeball, and like a normal capturing procedure, the Bulbasaur was turned into red coloured energy and sucked inside the pokeball. The pokeball didn't even twitch, simply accepting the pokemon without any hitches. Instantly, Ash clipped the pokeball to his waist, and started sprinting at break speeds towards Cerulean city, however, fate wasn't on his side, it seemed.

"FEA!" "ROW!"

The two Fearow's, large brown coloured birds with long beaks and a red tail cawed at him, swooping down towards the red eyed teen, who barely dodged under the Fearow's razor sharp claws.

"..." Ash narrowed his eyes. "You aren't going to let me pass."

It was a statement rather than a question, and he was right as the two Fearow's turned around, and again came down at him, this time, with their beaks pointed at him. Ash looked towards Pikachu, who nodded, and rushed ahead, sparks flying of his body.

It was something he had developed after watching videos of the move volt tackle and studying about it. Pikachu wasn't powerful enough to unlock his egg move, that was volt tackle, but ash could give him a boost, by making a move similar to volt tackle, or basically, just a downtrodden version of it.

You see, the move Electro ball is simply gather electrical energy inside your body, and unleashing it while compressing it into a ball, something which would spread out when it hits. Similarly, the move that ash created was a mixture between the moves quick attack, Electro ball and Thundershock. Or rather, it was a quick attack powered by the electrical power of Thundershock and the compressive power of Electro ball.

Pikachu was enveloped in a white coloured sheen which occasionally spouted out yellow coloured sparks of electricity, and hit the incoming Fearrow once, knocking it out cold, before jumping on the top of it, and using the same move again on the other one.

This simple combination was the move which Ash had made as a failsafe if he couldn't find any other pokemon against the Cerulean city gym.

The two Fearow's collapsed to the ground, but ash could care less. He started to run towards the city again, which now was very close, never looking back at Brock or Yancy following him at a slower pace.

It took him another hour to reach to the city and the pokemon centre. Nurse Joy was shocked when he noticed a red eyed boy with a Pikachu bursting through the doors at 3 in the afternoon, panting like he had run a marathon, and a pokeball in hand.

"Nurse joy." He panted once, handing over the pokeball to her. "Wild pokemon*Pant*hurt by Fearow*Pant, Pant* Heal"

After that, he couldn't speak more, just going on his knees and panting. The nurse raised an eyebrow, and called out the pokemon on a stretcher behind her. As soon as she saw it's condition, her eyes widened, and she gasped, before running straight towards the operation theatre, the sign on top of it turning red.

Now, all he could do was wait and see if his running was good or not. He sat down on one of the seats, with Pikachu on his lap, looking at the room in which the nurse was, eyes never leaving it. He was also worried for the grass type, it seemed.

"Ash!" Brock and Yancy came inside, running towards him.

"How is it?" Yancy asked first after regaining her breath. "Will he survive?"

"I don't know, it's all in Nurse Joy's hands now." Ash said, looking back at the room. "But he's in capable hands, so he might make it out."

"All we can do is wait." Brock said, moving to sit on the couch as was sitting on. The next 3 hours were nerve wrecking for the group of 3 and one pokemon as they waited for the nurse to come out. Finally, after what felt like ages, the nurse came out, tired, and hair all in a frenzy, but still very satisfied.

"He was very lucky that you managed to get him here in time." The nurse said with a tired smile. "He will survive and will be back to its peak condition in 2 to 3 days. You did very good."

The three trainers let out a collective sigh of relief, happy that the hardwork they did wasn't gone in vain.

This was how you save a pokemon's life, and the relief you get after that is what made their day.

* * *

"Bulba..." It had been 2 days since bulbasaur had been given to the pokemon centre for healing. 2 days since ash had started his training even more so than normal. "Bulbasaur!"

The Bulbasaur was now completely healed up, a combination of the magic of the deliberator and Nurse Joy. Now, the small grass type was perfectly fine, normal, and completely ready to go away.

"Good to see you are doing great, Bulbasaur." Ash said to the pokemon, smiling slightly and petting its head. "I am sure you will be good to go after today."

"And good to go he is." It was very early in the morning, perhaps not even 7 yet. Brock would have just woken up and Yancy would still be sleeping. As the earliest riser of the group, Ash had many responsibilities, like finding berries for breakfast, getting water and also, cleaning up the general area of the camp. As compensation, he would be the one who could sit out while the others packed everything up later on. Nurse Joy said after checking the charts one last time. "You can go and release him in the southern end of the village, I am sure it wants to see it's parents."

"Yeah." Ash got visibly sad at that, looking down. "It was a great time while it was, my friend, I am sure you will have a great life. Let's get you to your home now."

"Bulba!" The pokemon vehemently shook his head, and rubbed his face on Ash's pants. "Bulbasaur!"

"Huh?" Ash blinked in surprise. Feeling a vine attach to his leg, he looked down to see bulbasaur clutching at him. "You don't want to go?"

"Bulba!" The pokemon smiled at him, and tapped a vine on his pokeball. "Bulbasaur!"

"You want to come with me?" Ash asked, eyes wide. After a few seconds, a grin set onto his face. "Well then, welcome to the team, Bulbasaur."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu, who had heard Ash saying that, jumped on his shoulder and greeted them. "Pika Pikachu!"

"Bulbasaur!" The bulbasaur looked happy at that. Removing his pokedex, ash scanned for Bulbasaur's moves and data.

 _Bulbasaur, the grass bulb pokemon. This pokemon at times was mistaken for shrubs of grass, and is confused whether it is a pokemon or a type of plant. It's level is 16, he is a male and he has the moves Poison powder, Stun spore, Sleep powder, Razor leaf, Vine whip, Leech Seed and has the locked Egg move Sludge Bomb. This pokemon can evolve now._

It was on a great level for a wild pokemon, especially one so young. Judging by his freshness and also his size, the Bulbasaur was probably only 3 to 4 years old, a mere scratch compared to the 200 years Bulbasaur can live. It was a plant, plants live for long.

"You've got a good level and move pool. But there are still some things I must do." Ash said, closing his pokedex, eyes gleaming. "Let's hit the fields shall we?"

"Pika!" "Bulba!"

* * *

Yancy woke up exactly at 8 in the morning. She had been awake late in the night, at least till 2. Ash's conversation with her was still fresh in her mind, and it was due to that reason she couldn't sleep.

She had seen him go out of the room she, Brock and Ash shared many a times, as silent as if he wasn't even in the room, and she knew he was going down to see how Bulbasaur was doing. His determination and care surprised her.

Having grown in a forest for most of her life, she wasn't that educated. She only knew the simplest of mathematics from the books she found thrown off by some of the careless kids in the village, a very little of science and even less of current subjects. Her only source of entertainment was an old school TV which she had found abandoned in one of the alleys of viridian city, which ran via battery, and only caught signal 1 hour in the morning every day. And she didn't have time to watch TV either. She had to make sure she would survive, and was most of the times in the forest, searching for berries or rare herbs which she could classify from the books she had found. The more useful the herb or berry was, the more money you got.

But when she got out of viridian forest, her life had changed completely. At first, she thought it was going to be a big disaster for her, but what Ash had said was true. It was fun, and it was not a waste. She had found out much more of what life was, how people lived their lives, and how you could become something, even if it meant starting with nothing. Ash became a light in her darkened world, a light that lead her in the correct path. In fact, the light she had as a guide was something she never wanted to part with.

But when Brock told her about her dream, she got slightly scared. She understood the reality of the chances of her actually being one of those famous people who starred in TV shows. She faced the truth, no matter how harsh it was. She didn't have a possible goal in her hands.

As if the gods loved to put her into troublesome situations, her mind got jumbled up again when Ash gave her that simple brochure, and the determined gazes of her pokemon. On one hand, she was excited to try it out, on the other, she was scared, scared to face the people, scared that she would make a fool out of herself, and her pokemon.

Today was the last day of the registration for the Musical being held in the city they were going to go to next, Viridian city. Getting up and stretching, she looked towards the foot of her bed where she found Meowth and Cleafairy strangely absent. Panicking slightly, she quickly took a bath, got her dress on and rushed outside the room. When she found her two pokemon, she couldn't help but let her jaw fall to the ground

Brock and Ash were standing in the fields of the pokemon centre, both of their eyes widened in amazement and awe. Meowth had seen one of the pokemon playing some instrument, and had gathered various bottles, and was playing an eerily similar tune to the one of titanic, using her claws as sticks and the bottles in front of her as the drums.

The tune, though scratchy, was so perfect that it sounded exactly like a roughed of remix of the original tune, and so musical, ironically, that it deserved the attention of everyone.

Beside her, Cleafairy was juggling various items in her hands, whether it be some rocks, or balls, or even some stray coconut shells she had found from god knows where. And currently, she had 12 pebbles in her hands, yes, 12.

"W w w what the hell?" Yancy couldn't help but show her shock. "Y you guys, you guys seriously want to do it?"

At the arrival of their trainer, both of them stopped doing what they were, and nodded with wide smiles on their faces. Smiles she had only seen on Ash's face when he was about to do something exciting.

"I should say Yancy, with some training, they could be one of the best performers in the world." Brock whistled. He had come to see ash training with Pikachu and Bulbasaur, and decided to help him by looking out for them while Ash went and took a bath. But when he came back, and he was about to go to get some supplies, both of their eyes had been fixated on what Meowth and Cleafairy were doing. It was simply too beautiful to ignore. "You know, Ash was right. With your creativity, don't tell me you don't have any for I have seen you drawing those pictures, and with the natural talent of your pokemon, you can become great. Just simply go and sign up."

"I told you it wasn't your decision." Ash silently said, bending down to pet both of her pokemon. "It is never a trainer's decision to do something. It always is of their pokemon's."

She wanted to protest, she really did. But looking at the pokemon below her, who were looking at her with expectant looks, she couldn't help but gain a new confidence. She could do this.

"Alright then." She sighed, and looked up, a new flame in her green eyes. "Get ready, both of you. We need to do a lot of tuning."

"NYAA!" "CLEAFAIRY!"

She was met with a lot of excited cries, and the two went back to their practising, this time with much more intent behind them and Yancy went straight to nurse joy to register.

"You know, I am glad you gave that push to her." Brock whispered in Ash's ears. "She had some talent in her which surpasses even sabrina's."

"Pushes in the right kind are always required." Ash said, looking back at his pokemon who had taken a break to watch the other two perform. "Alright you two, break time is over. Let's get back to training!"

"Pika!" "Saur!"

His entire plan was to get Bulbasaur strong enough to go against the gym leader's pokemon, whom ash had no idea who it was, but he knew he or she was going to be stronger than Brock, not that the man wasn't strong himself. So, he had decided to work on Pikachu with the enhanced version of thundershock, thunderbolt. For bulbasaur, it was simple level grinding. Pikachu was on level 26 right now, 10 levels ahead of Bulbasaur, and he at least wanted Bulbasaur to be on level 24 before they went at the gym.

So he had them doing various exercises as warmup, and constant mini spars between the two, which Pikachu won everytime, but Bulbasaur was getting better by the minute. In fact, as soon as they had their breakfast, he was going to make for route 24 and route 25 to train.

Yeah, he had a lot of training to do today, and he had a lot of catching up to do today.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Yancy asked Ash. Both of them, along with Brock, were standing outside the pokemon centre. "Because I also have some training to do."

"Well, I need to go to route 24 and 25 for training myself." Ash said, Pikachu on his shoulder already appearing excited for the coming training. "But perhaps I can stick to route 24 today and go to route 25 tomorrow."

"That's a good idea." Yancy said, smiling and looking down at the bag she had filled with some stuff for her own training. "That way, both of us will be profited."

"I also should train a little." Brock said, feeling slightly left out. "No offenses in staying in shape."

"So what are we waiting for?" And with that said, the group of three started their trek to route 24.

Route 24 was situated exactly behind the nugget bridge, to the side of the treacherous Cerulean cave. Not much was known about it, except the fact that it was so dangerous and so deep that not many people tried to go in the depths of the cave. In fact, the pokemon league had placed a strict restriction on anyone without at least the 8 kanto badges and the indigo league trophy along with at least 6 pokemon or an approval from the regional professor and a special league examiner. Without the requirements, every single person who tried to enter the cave was caught and placed under arrest and would be treated as a national criminal.

But they weren't going to do that. In fact, what ash had planned was simple. Stay on route 24, train with the trainers and the wild pokemon, gain some good levels and go back and challenge the gym. After the gym was done, go back to route 25, see the cerulean cape, and return back and head to Vermilion city, or at least that was the plan.

And it looked like the fates were bright with ash today. He was about to leave the route and head back when he heard it, a cry of challenge, from a pokemon.

A Charmander, a wild Charmander, same but different stood behind him. Instead of the normal orange skin, it had black skin. Instead of the cream part on its stomach, it had pure white colour. Instead of the normal green eyes, it had red eyes. And most of all, instead of the flame on its tail being orange, it was blue.

This charmander was a shiny charmander. Said to be a myth, and a creature of legend, which was standing in front of him.

"Charmander Char!" The pokemon had an excited grin on his face and was pointing towards Pikachu. "Charmander!"

"Pikachu!" Apparently, Pikachu had understood what the pokemon in front of him was saying, and had gotten pumped up himself. "Pikapi, Pikachu!"

"You want to battle?" The Charmander nodded, the fire on its tail growing in size. "Well then, I accept your challenge."

Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder. It was late in the evening, Brock and Yancy had already left, and he was here for some final touches for the next day. Now, he had something else to do.

"Char!" The fire type pokemon shot forward, with his claws shining with a scratch attack. Pikachu dodged it immediately, he didn't even have to give the command to do so. "Charmander!"

"Pikachu, jump over." Ash said, wrapping his arms around his chest. His red coloured jacket was currently wrapped around his waist, and his bag was on the ground near his feet. He was quite excited for this battle. "Now use iron tail!"

With a surprising feat of strength, the Charmander not only managed to catch the Iron tail which came down upon him from above, but also managed to throw Pikachu backwards. He opened his mouth, and launched a series of blue coloured flame balls towards Pikachu.

"Dadge it!" Ash said. "Then use thunder wave!"

With the Charmander now paralysed, Pikachu had the benefit of not only being faster, but also, having a greater chance of landing hits. And Ash took the advantage of the situation without any shame. The Charmander was strong, even with paralysis, it could easily do much damage to Pikachu, and he had never seen any pokemon going up against Pikachu like this. This Charmander... He wanted it. He was going to catch it.

"Pikachu, let's finish this!" Ash shouted. The two pokemon had been exchanging metal claw's, thundershocks, embers and Iron tails for quite some time. Charmander was on his knees, sparking, on the last of his Hp, while Pikachu was no better, but he could still pack a hit. "Use thunderbolt!"

This time, the lightning Pikachu gave out was too much for Charmander to handle. In a thud, the fire type collapsed down on the ground, defeated.

"Pika!" Pikachu gave a victory shout, and collapsed himself. That was the toughest battle he had till now. "Pikapika!"

"...You did great." Ash said, eyes softened over. He picked up his starter, and held it in his hands, and walked towards Charmander, who had managed to shake off hi dizziness and looked up at ash. "You know, you aren't bad. I have a proposition for you. How about you join my team? I would make you the greatest fire type in the planet, as strong as Pikachu here. Don't worry, you will be taken care off well."

"Charmander..." The charmander couldn't help but stare at the red eyes of the man who had trained that incredibly strong Pikachu. "Charmander!"

Seeing the acceptance in charmander, ash fished out a pokeball, and tossed it on the fire type, who accepted the feeling of being shrunken and caught. Ash's second capture of the day was a shiny Charmander.

With Professor Oak, he was giddy in excitement as ash had found something which was said to be impossible to find, no matter what the case was. In fact, it was so great that he forgot about the fact that Ash had just caught the pokemon, and called him on his pokegear for some data straight away.

Poor Ash had to answer all the questions the professor had for almost 2 hours. But had he noticed, he would have seen a spiky red haired man wearing a weird outfit looking at the scene with impressed eyes.

Lance Wataru was one of the strongest trainers on the planet, and also was a fighter of the good. Being a part of the noble G-Men, a force made to counter the evil in the world, he was always on the lookout for young recruits, and he had found the perfect one. But further investigation was required about the trainer.

If his hunch was correct, the evil organisations of the world were going to face something that would give them the nightmares soon. And also, he couldn't help but feel giddy and excited himself. That boy, he was going to be a force to be reckoned with, he just knew it.

And he couldn't wait until the boy got stronger to challenge him.

 _ **The End.**_

 **If there are any chapters that took me so much thinking to like, it's this one. I gave my update for the dragon king on the 2** **nd** **of November. Today's the 8** **th** **of November, or at least in my calendar. A whole week, and I am writing this chapter since the 3** **rd** **. Now that's what I call a serious chapter.**

 **Anyways, Ash now has 2 pokemon added to his team, a Bulbasaur and a Shiny Charmander. I love shiny charmander, or Charizard. Blue flames that cannot be ignored, nope. Anyways, here is it.**

 **Now, the next chapter is going to contain the Gym battle, the bill scenario and also a small added arc on my part focusing on Brock, if I am going to give Ash different pokemon than in anime, then why not Brock as well? As for which one it is going to be, well, I haven't decided yet, but I am leaning towards giving him a ryhorn. But my mind can change anytime, so, comment on who would you like to see in Brock's team.**

 **Also, about a pairing for Brock, well, I doubt I am going to give one so soon, this chapter has the start of the development of a relationship between Ash and Yancy, the next chapter might have some more moments, before I take it to the fluffy side.**

 **And also, I am not going to comment about the pokemon musical idea. I know it's completely different from what a musical truly is, but I needed to at least give Yancy some stage time because it's her dream, right?**

 **Anyways, feel free to leave your reviews and comments, I would love any help that you give me, and would consider any suggestion that you have. The next update should be around 10 days later after I write my Dragon king one, which I should say is going to take me time to write. Untill then, ciao and take care.**

 **Regards...Omnipotent97.**


	6. Cerulean city gym

**Disclaimer- I don't own pokemon, it belongs to Satoshi Taijiri and Nintendo.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 6- The Cerulean city gym.

The Cerulean city gym was basically a large swimming pool, with a battle box on each side of the pool and the life guards seat as the refree's box.

However, since it was a swimming pool, actually built in a stadium, it was easy for some people to conduct water shows. Now, water shows means people dressed scantily, basically women wearing bikinis and sporting off what they are packing to the world. And women wearing bikinis means Brock having a field day.

"Excuse me miss." Brock appeared out of no-where in front of a lady dressed in a blue coloured extremely revealing one piece dress, holding the said girls hands on his one knee. "I cannot swim, how about you teach me how to swim?"

*SMACK!*"Piss off, pervert!" Ash sighed while Yancy gave a satisfactory smile. That's what he deserved.

"Why?" The pervert moaned pathetically on the ground. "Why can't I get someone to teach me swimming?!"

"As if you really want to learn swimming." Yancy huffed, clearly not liking the fact that Brock was a pervert. "You clearly were having naughty intentions behind your words!"

"How does a 10 year old girl like you know that anyway?!" Brock shouted out at her, who only glared at him harder.

"Brock, that was the 10th time you were turned down." Ash deadpanned, further making Brock depressed. "And that was the 10th time that you got slapped. Maybe you should use a different line cause this is definitely not working."

"Let's just find the gym leader alright? The show's already over." Brock sighed. The stars weren't with him today. "And we have much work to do."

"Did I hear someone say gym leader?" A voice came from behind them. Standing there was a girl, about a year older than Ash and Yancy, with orange coloured hair tied in 2 ponytails. She was wearing a green coloured skirt and a yellow coloured top with red coloured straps. "I am Misty waterflower, the Gym leader of Cerulean city, nice to meet you."

"Ash Ketchum from pallet town." Ash nodded at her, not displaying any emotions. "I would like to have a gym battle with you."

"Sure, but I have some work to do." The polite smile she had on her face immediately vanished as suddenly, she pulled out a mallet from somewhere. A dark aura started to surround her, and people started to jump out of her way as she made her way to 3 different women chatting on the edge of the pool, all of them holding some sort of connection to Misty. And what was even worse was that Misty looked ready to actually smack their heads in.

"Uhh, please tell me she isn't going to actually hit them." Yancy shivered, unconsciously moving closer to ash until their fingers almost touched. "And if she is, I want to get out of this city, now."

"W well, looking at her, she really is going to do it." Brock suddenly decided the girl wasn't exactly the person he wanted to mess with. A slap was still okay, but a mallet? No he loved his head and his life very much, thank you. "Uhh, should we stop her?"

"..." Ash didn't answer, just looking at the gym leader with those red eyes of his, but if one were to look closely, they would see the fear in them. 'S she is as freaky as my mother on her worst of the days!'

" **What have I told you three about holding shows on working days?** " Misty growled out to the three women, 2 of whom eeped and fell into the pool, one who started to shiver and look everywhere but at her. " **Well?** "

"Umm, you see... we like, ya know, thought since you were gone and it was like to boring, so we totally thought like let's get it on." The blonde hair woman who was standing in front of her stuttered out. "Umm, we are like, sorry?"

" **...** " the glare still remained on the face, but her anger had calmed down, enough for her to lower her mallet. "I want the pool empty in 10 mintues, I have a challenger."

"Y yes ma'am!" 10 minutes later, we find Ash standing on one side of the pool and misty on the other. Many floating blocks were set free onto the pool, and a larger one in the middle containing the pokeball symbol, making it look like the actual battle field. The same Blonde woman was sitting on the Life-guard's seat acting as the refree, while Brock and Yancy along with the other 2, whom along with the blonde woman were actually Misty's older sisters, were sitting on the bleachers with them.

"This is a 2 on 2 battle between Gym leader Misty and challenger Trainer Red from Pallet town." The woman, daisy, announced. "The first move will be given to the challenger. Trainers, please call out your pokemon!"

"Bulbasaur." "Misty choses staryu!"

 _Staryu, the star fish pokemon. When this pokemon faints, the crystal on its centre starts to sparkle. This staryu is on level 18_.

Ash narrowed his eyes. The pokemon in front of him was a starfish like pokemon, having a brownish yellow shade to it. It's centre had a red coloured crystal attached along with a golden outline. And he had heard about this pokemon. It was a very troublesome pokemon.

"Let the match begin!" The referee shouted, waving her arms down. Immediately, Ash analysed the situation in his mind. He had to deal with a water type, known for its speed and versatility in the water with his Bulbasaur. Now, even though he had the advantage, a victory wasn't ensured. There were ways to counter your weaknesses, many ways. Each pokemon could learn a move that was super effective against the type it was weak against.

"Bulbasaur, use razor leaf!" Ash said, the beginnings of a plan quickly forming inside his head. The said pokemon unleashed a torrent of leaves on his opponent from the side of his bulb, going as fast as a speeding car, but staryu was fast.

"Staryu, jump into the water!" Staryu immediately was in the water, and with an incredible show of speed, it dashed around the water, going from the floating boards it was standing on to the other side of the large pool so fast some thought that he teleported.

* * *

"What speed!" Yancy gasped, not being able to cope up with the pokemon. "Not even Ash's Pikachu can go this fast, and he can outrun a car if he wants to!"

"Staryu are made that way." Brock said, his face emotionless and calculative, like any battler. "Ash has a very big challenge in front of him. It is not going to be so easy as he thought it to be."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Yancy asked, looking back at Brock. "If ash get's a hit in, it will be an easy win for him, right? I mean, his bulbasaur is on a higher level than that Staryu. And grass types are super effective against water types."

"That might be true, but did you put Staryu's speed into picture? Staryu is so fast that Bulbasaur won't be able to get any attacks in." Brock explained, looking back at the battle. "And if this Staryu can move this fast while only dodging, I am sure he can move as fast, if not, even faster when attacking. Ash will have to take care for this battle. Strength won't be an answer for it."

"I am sure he can do it!" Yancy though didn't change on her decision. She knew he would win. He had to. "H he is the greatest trainer I have ever known!"

Brock raised an eyebrow at how Yancy was acting. Could it be? Nah, it was impossible. There was no way she had a crush on Ash, they were too young. But the smile on his face said something else.

* * *

"Good, now use tackle!" Ash didn't see it coming. One second, Staryu stopped where it was, the next second, it crossed the distance of at least 50 meters in water in 2 seconds, and was in front of Bulbasaur, impacting into the grass type with unimaginable force, sending it flying from one pad to the other and then to the other. "Great job!"

"Bulbasaur, you alright?" Ash worriedly asked, concern visible in his eyes. Bulbasaur nodded, and got up, shakingly at first, but stood firm. "Good. Listen, you won't be able to track such speed through your eyes, you will need to use all your senses, all of them, from movement, to sound to taste to smell. Focus, it will come back at you for a second round."

"Like that will work, Staryu, go, use water pulse!" A small ball of water formed on top of staryu's top fin, which was hurled at Bulbasaur.

"Dodge!" Without removing his eyes from Staryu, the grass type pokemon dodged the incoming water attack. "Use razor leaf again!"

"Hmph, Go back in the water, and slam into him with a tackle!" This time though Ash was prepared. As soon as Staryu stopped, he tensed up.

"Bulbasaur!" He caught the attention of his pokemon. "Grab it with vine whip!"

As if a unholy co-incidence, Bulbasaur had also noticed Staryu stopping, and he redied his vines, catching the incoming Staryu quite easily.

"What!" Misty shouted in shock. "HOW DID YOU SEE THAT COMMING?!"

"Slam it into the podium, then use razor leaf on it!" Bulbasaur did as his trainer told him to, and slammed the offending water type on the hard ground of the podium, before launching several razor leaves at it, making it a super effective times 2 from the vine whip and the razor leaf. Staryu stood no chance.

It's gem started to glow dimly, indicating it had fainted. Ash sighed in relief. That was too close for comfort.

"Staryu cannot battle." The acting refree raised her right arm towards Ash. "The winner of the first round is bulbasaur!"

"Return Staryu, you did great." Misty sighed in sadness, returning her trusty water type. Then, she looked up to Ash with an excited grin. "No one has ever defeated Staryu so easily, especially rookie trainers like you. But this will end now! Misty choses Starmie!"

Another starfish pokemon appeared in front of Ash, this one was a little bigger, with it's skin purple in colour and the gem an octagonal gem, red in colour as well.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire!" Ash exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead in frustration.

On the bleachers, Brock's jaw dropped to the ground.

"Out of all the pokemon that she could have, it had to be Starmie." Brock groaned out. "Ash is in serious trouble now."

"It's just the evolution of Staryu right? What's so difficult about it?" Yancy asked curiously. On the other hand, she found the pokemon kind of spooky. "I mean, it looks sort of...hideous."

"Starmie is a part psychic type pokemon. It has so many ways to defend itself that it is beyond being called ridiculous." Brock said, looking down at ash. "And Bulbasaur is a part Poison type pokemon. Last I checked, Poison types are weak to Psychic types."

"A Ash will win, he still has one more pokemon left." Yancy turned back to the battle.

Ash's mind was running at full speed. He had to face a part psychic type pokemon, with his Bulbasaur, which happened to be a part poison type pokemon. He was at a very bad disadvantage and as if to make the matters worse, Bulbasaur was already down to Half Hp.

"Bulbasaur, are you sure you want to continue?" Ash asked out to his friend, who only stood sturdily. "Good."

"Round two, begin!" As soon as the refree said that, bulbasaur, with Ash's command, sent out lots and lots of seeds at starmie.

"Dodge it!" Misty said. Starmie jumped up in the air to dodge it, and started to spin. "Now use rapid spin!"

Starmie was much more slower than Staryu, but it was stronger. With a force that actually sent back when he rushed towards Bulbasaur, the starfish pokemon crashed into Bulbasaur, sending it flying back to the edge of the pool, and almost into the water if not for bulbasaur using some of his vines to grab a hold on one of the floating podiums.

"Damn. Bulbasaur are you alright?" Ash worriedly asked his pokemon, who stood up, barely standing, falling back to a knee. "Crap. Are you sure you want to continue?"

"B bulba, saur!" Bulbasaur groaned out, glaring at Starmie. "Bulbasaur!"

"..." Ash didn't respond, only looked down near his leg where Pikachu was standing, looking back up at him, eyes filled with confidence. "Alright, Bulbasaur, use razor leaf!"

"Bulbasaur!" But it was useless.

"Starmie, Dodge it!" Starmie jumped into the water to dodge , and came back out. "Now finish it with Psyshock!"

And that was the end for Bulbasaur. The narrowly and fully concentrated bolt of Psychic energy was super effective against Bulbasaur, knocking it out.

"Bulbasaur cannot battle!" The refree again raised her hand, this time, towards misty. "The winner of this round is Starmie, Challenger Ash, please send out your last pokemon."

"Return Bulbasaur." Ash recalled his Bulbasaur, looking at his pokeball with a smile. "You were amazing."

Then, he looked back at the battlefield, his face going emotionless again. Pikachu was already standing on the podium in front of him.

"Pikachu, I chose you." Said pokemon flexed it's small muscles, and sparkled it's cheeks.

"Hmph, just because you have an electric type, don't think you will be able to take down starmie so easily!" Misty shouted. "Starmie, use water pulse!"

"Pikachu, dodge it!" Pikachu jumped from one podium to the other, dodging the Water Pulse quite easily. "Now, use quick attack to get closer, then use Iron tail!"

Now, when Staryu had used it's tackle attack, it was so fast that people had trouble seeing it. But Pikachu was faster. For Starmie, it happened in a flash. As if Pikachu had teleported, it appeared in front of Starmie, and slammed it's glowing tail right on top of it, sending it crashing down below the pool, into it's flooring.

"Starmie!" Misty cried out. "Starmie are you okay?!"

Luckily for her, starmie came back up to the surface, but the damage of the bullet like move was already done. It left a red spot where Pikachu had impacted.

"Great! Starmie, use psyschock!" The starfish pokemon let out a shock of psychic energy from it's gem, which Pikachu dodged quite easily.

"Pikachu, get behind it and use electro ball." Again, starmie couldn't track down the electric type as it without any hassles got behind it, the ball of super compressed electricity already in hand, and smashed it into starmie. Surprisingly, it got up.

"Starmie! Don't give up! Use Water pulse once again!" Misty desperately shouted, but it wasn't enough for him. Pikachu was way too fast. "Oh no."

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Pikachu's cheeks sparkled, brightly as so, and it unleashed a very powerful bolt of electricity towards Starmie, completely demolishing the last of it's HP. Starmie fainted.

"S Starmie cannot battle! The winner of this round is Pikachu! Since Gym leader misty has no Pokemon left, the winner of the match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet town!"The refree stuttered out after the display of power from Pikachu.

"Great job, Pikachu." Ash silently complimented his friend, rubbing it's head making it coo. "You and Bulbasaur both were amazing."

"Return Starmie." Misty sighed. This was her 3rd consecutive loss, but she wasn't sad. In fact, she was happy she got to battle such a trainer.

"Ash!" Before Ash could even comprehend what happened, he was tackled to the floor by a pink and white blue. "You won! Congratulations!"

"..." Ash couldn't say anything, his eyes were wide as Yancy hugged him tight, so tight it was getting painful, and much to his surprise, he liked the fact she was hugging him. "... Uh, Y Yancy?"

"EEP!" It was then she realised what she did, and as fast as she tackled him, she got up, and started to fidget with her fingers. That moment was so cute in Ash's eyes that he almost died of Moe. It was the first time he was noticing it, but Yancy was... pretty. "I I mean, you know, I it was a great battle."

"I should agree with her. I thought you were a goner when she called out her starmie." Brock said, giving a hand to Ash for support, which Ash accepted. "You did good to Pikachu."

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu raised his arms in a V sign. "Pika!"

"I have to admit, I thought I had it in the bag when I called out my Starmie, but your Pikachu was amazing. Perhaps I need more training." Misty said, walking towards ash. "Here, you deserve this."

She handed him a single badge, shaped like a tear, blue in colour. It was simply amazing to get that badge after so much trouble training in mount moon and with Bulbasaur.

"That's the cascade Badge, it will allow you to go ahead and take part in many small tournaments that happen here and there." Misty said. "As for your next move, I would suggest you go to Vermilion city."

"Yeah, we were thinking that too." Yancy said. "I mean, I want to take part in the musical in that city coming up soon."

"Oh, you mean those things that the league recently introduced? I would not want to demean you, but you will have a tough time out there. Many people will compete." Misty said. "Anyways, good luck in your travels, Ash, Yancy, Brock. I sure hope to meet you guys again."

"Thank you very much!" The three bowed, and left for the pokemon centre. Again, Ash never noticed a certain red haired trainer, this time with another person with him, looking at the boy.

"So what do you say?" the spiky red haired man asked the other one. "Was mu hunch correct?"

"Correct? It was spot on." The other trainer said, his blue eyes glinting in slight seriousness. "He has a similar gift like mine, dormant, but powerful."

"Then we are going to have an ally so great that it's going to change the world." Lance said, looking back at the trainer that caught his eye. "Let's see where his journey leads him. Those guys have already noticed his capabilities by his actions in the vermilion pokemon centre, Viridian forest and Mt Moon. He might be the blessing we needed."

"Time is something no one controls my friend. But if he does join, I want him." The other guy said, turning back around. "Let's go, we need to file an official report about this. The others are very interested in this boy after you said about his feats that he did under a month of travel."

 _ **The End**_

 **Author's notes- I am going to keep it brief today, not exactly on the best of the moods right now because of the dang flu. Sorry for the short length, I couldn't see for 3 to 4 days, and I also have to take care for my grandmother, who is 75, since my father is out of my house and mom and granddad are not exactly at home either.**

 **Anyways, the next chapter will be long, since it will contain the pokemon tech episode, the squirtle episode, the underground pathway, the bill episode and one arc that I wanted to introduce myself, it will be for Brock.**

 **Anyways, see you guys later, the next update will be for the Dragon King.**

 **Regards...Omnipotent97.**


	7. Route 25-Poketech Academy-Bills house

**Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon, it belongs to Satoshi** Taijiri **and the Nintendo company.**

Chapter 7- Route 25-Poketech Academy-Bills House.

"1, 2, 1, 2. Come on!" Yancy had a whistle around her neck, which she was blowing to help both Meowth and cleafairy gain more strength in their arms. In front of them were 2 small sacks of sand, acting as punching bags while the 2 pokemon punched them.

Brock was standing on the side, looking at Yancy's training, his own pokemon resting after a goof training session, while as was on the sides with all his pokemon practicing some more.

After Ash had won against the Cerulean Gym Leader Misty, he had taken it to training up for the next gym, which Ash found out was an electric type gym. With the problem being he didn't have any moves that were super effective against that particular type, he had to train his pokemon to be stronger than the gym leaders, and considering Misty's pokemon were around level 18-22, he expected the vermilion city gym leader's pokemon to be around 24-28. And that wasn't something to laugh at because his strongest pokemon, Pikachu, was only on level 26 right now.

"Aim for the flower only, not for the leaves." Ash instructed his charmander. He had discovered a strange thing about Charmander. That charmander was different from the others because of a mishap, apparently, his past, with it not being able to recognise anything. When shown a picture of a charizard, he simply stared at in confusion, but slight want. That was expected of a pokemon who saw it's final stage, mainly because that pokemon would want to become one itself.

He didn't recognise anyone, and had trust issues as well. In fact, he only trusted Ash, that also a little, because he felt the bond between him and his other pokemon. And the second problem was, his flames were stronger than normal ones.

And I do mean stronger. Normal charmander flames were only able to burn through woods and such, and slightly heat up metal, but this one, no sir, it could melt through metal if it wanted, such were the powers of its blue coloured flames.

So Ash had taken it as his first priority to train Charmander to control his flames, as he was going to one of his trump cards in the battle against the vermilion city gym leader. However, it wasn't as easy as it seemed.

Problem number one was, Charmander used too much power in his attacks.

Problem 2, he had the worst aim in the history of all pokemon.

Problem 3, he couldn't stay still!

For problem 3, ash knew how to deal with it, simply showing him how Pikachu behaved, apparently, Charmander had taken up to Pikachu as a role model, and looking at Pikachu who could keep still at all times made him turning more and more onto the patient side and a lot lesser on the hothead side.

Improving his aim was not something that could be done over the day, but was a gradual process. When he first got him, he had the aim a normal wild pokemon had, and couldn't hit a target 10 meters away. Now, he could hit it quite easily.

Problem 1 was what had him baffled. He didn't know what to do. He could only help in training physically, but internally was not possible. Sure, he had read all the books he could find on Charmanders and shiny pokemon and how did they actually spit out flames, he still couldn't understand it properly. But from what professor oak had explained it, Charmander's flames were a lot hotter than normal, so it was not easy to hold down all those flames. Or at least he believed as so from the data and recordings Ash had sent him. More explanations could only come when the professor saw the Charmander for himself.

"Great, now shift to the leaf!" But right now, he was more worried about improving his aim. "Don't burn the flowers!"

"Char!" Once again, small blue embers left the fire lizards mouth and towards the flower, but this time, it hit the leaf. Now, it would have been a better idea if he hadn't chosen a flower because the flower burnt down completely, but his aim was still par level. "Charmander!"

"Good. Take a rest." He had worked all morning to get to that level, he deserved it. "Bulbasaur, you are up next!"

Brock looked at ash with stoic eyes. He knew what it meant to be a trainer, since he was a trainer, a gym leader before. He understood what Ash had to go through to make his pokemon so tough for a trainer with 2 badges like him. And Charmander's problem was something he had never seen in his life. As a breeder, he knew he should have an idea of what is going on with charmander, but it was very difficult to find out the real trouble with charmander.

Compared to Ash, he understood more from all the books they had read, and could at least make out what was going on. Apparently, like the professor said, Charmander's flames were too hot to be contained in his stomach. Now, there was no way that could be repaired, but there were ways the flames could be controlled. But for that, he would need a Water type pokemon near him in case of any accidents, and it looked like ash understood that as well.

He was frankly put very surprised and impressed by the conviction that Ash put in his training. He didn't ignore any of his pokemon. Even if his first priority was Charmander, he kept an eye out if Pikachu and Bulbasaur were doing good, and if he saw anything not exactly up to his expectations, he immediately tried to rectify the problem. Most of the rookie trainers would be struggling with 3 pokemon by now, especially because it had only been somewhere around 2 weeks since Ash started his journey, but this young man at the age of friggin 10 was much more mature than even _himself!_

Never had he seen a trainer, a veteran, rookie or even an elite trainer worry about their pokemon on such a level and try to solve the problem by _studying the damn problem themselves_! Heck even most _breeders_ didn't do it!

Now he understood why did Professor Oak, whom he had the honour of talking to once while Ash had been interrupted in the middle of a call by the nurse due to some problem his pokemon had run into, held the young red eyed boy in such a high regard. He was simply put, very dedicated in his dream of becoming the best.

"Brock." He almost screamed when the voice of the said boy interrupted his thoughts. "Can you tell me where the food for the pokemon is? I am finished with my training for the morning."

"Oh, sure." His job in the group was making dinner. Now, Ash made good food himself, not as good as brock did, but it could be said on par. Yancy also knew how to make food, but both of them didn't know how to make a proper balanced meal. So they had kept brock in charge of the food section and the medicine section, Yancy in charge of the firewood and chopping section and ash in charge of camp setting and water filling section. "Call Yancy as well, I will have lunch ready in no time."

The pink haired girl, who had been thoroughly inspired by her Meowth and Cleafairy's dedication to take part in the musicals, had been working on ways to improve Meowth's tuning skills, making use of empty glass bottles as a way for her to play tunes, which the cat like pokemon took like a sponge to water. She could play the most complex of the tunes perfectly.

Cleafairy was, how to put it, a very good juggler. She could juggle 20 tennis balls at once, without any form of troubles, for 2 minutes straight, and in many ways as well. Put it simply, if he wanted a job as a juggler in a circus, he would have been a super hit.

"Yancy." Ash called out to her. She had removed her hat, and her white coloured shirt, now she was wearing her blue coloured dress, with a whistle around her neck. The said girl looked over to him. "Take a break now, lunch's almost ready."

"Sure, just let me finish this last sequence." She turned back to see Meowth almost complete her sequence of the tune from star wars. It was amazingly realistic. "Well done Meowth!"

"Nyaa." The pokemon mewled, retracting her claws and going towards the gathering of all the pokemon. Even though she was reserved at first, Meowth opened up to everyone easily.

"She wasn't so talkative before." Yancy sighed. She was a little jealous, she was always together with meowth. Looking at her now being less talkative with her and more with the other pokemon was slightly harder to adjust, but she was glad she found other friends. "And didn't even like to eat pokemon food."

"Every pokemon when they get out of their natural zone start to behave differently." Ash said, looking towards Charmander who was having a mock staring contest with Onix. "Charmander also wasn't so playful when I first got him. In 2 days he has changed from the serious fire type to a playful pokemon. Well, let's hope they don't completely ignore us."

"Yeah." The sound of a bell interrupted them, where they saw Brock's alarm ringing. It meant dinner was ready, usually to call all the pokemon towards the main campsight. Everyone _loved_ Brock's cooking, from Pikachu, to Meowth to Yancy, all of them.

Lunch was a much enjoyed affair, where all of them talked about what they did and what they were planning to do on the span of the day. Ash usually would talk about what he knew of the region ahead, Brock would add in his points and Yancy would says stuff from the Kanto region guidebook she had.

"Hey, there's a school ahead in this route." Yancy said after going through some pages. "It's name is... Poketech academy."

"Poketech academy." Ash muttered under his breath. It wasn't unusual for ash to speak, unlike when he was small where he hardly spoke at all, but him speaking those words with such... displeasure was something unusual. "That good for nothing 'elite' school."

"It has 5 stars in this, ash." Yancy showed him the book, where it was written in detail what the school did and what it not. Of course, the darker truths weren't known to anyone. "I doubt it is bad."

"I have heard about that school. People say it isn't exactly good in its teaching tactics." Brock said. "And nor in the results it produces. Hell I have heard that even though it boasts to be the best trainer school in the entire region, it never has had a student that has gone above the preliminaries in the league."

"I was once a part of that school. When I saw that instead of with real pokemon, they relied on simulations and everything was to be learnt from a textbook, and everything out of the ordinary was frowned upon, I left the school. It was funny to see everyones face when a 7 year old boy, in front of the head of the K-industries, returned the school's documents and left with all the bags." Ash said, his eyes glinting with something akin to disgust. "I hated it."

"Wow." Brock couldn't help but gape. He had never heard one bad word from Ash's mouth, about anything. Kids his age always complained about stuff. This was the first time he heard such words from his mouth. "If it managed to piss you off, it must be bad."

"Well, if we want to go to bill's place, we will need to check it out." Yancy said, pointing a certain location on the map she had. "According to this, Mr. Bill lives out here, just before cerulean cape."

"So we will need to go through the poketech school." Ash almost groaned. "I hope we don't have to go in. I really will lose it if I see that school again."

* * *

"I really had to open my mouth didn't i?" Ash grumbled, glaring at the boy who they had 'saved'. While trekking out on route 24, they found a treadmill, yes, an actual treadmill out in the wild, with one boy, looking exactly like a nerd, running on it, while many different boys were 'educating' him, more like, speeding up the treadmill if he answered any question wrong. Ash wanted to ignore them, or at least he tried to.

Of course, Yancy had to say so otherwise. One thing about the girl was that she was too trusting for her own good, and too damn curious! While yes, she knew about Ash's views about the school, she was still enchanted about how the school could get such good reviews, and just had to check it for herself. So, the boy, whose name he had forgotten already( _ **I don't remember the name myself**_ ) whom he had named Billy, just because 1, he didn't remember the true name, and 2, the author wanted him to be named Billy.

So here we find Billy, Yancy, Brock and a very hesitant Ash walking towards the large school building in the distance, Ash grimacing when he saw the building.

"As I was saying, our school is the best school in the region, and a contender for the best school in the world." The boy proudly said, with his nose stuck high in the air, ignoring the fact that he didn't even know at what level Pidgey evolved into Pidgeotto, which was a fact _everyone_ knew. "Every one in this school is a genius, well, sort of. But there are some stars out there as well, who top everything there is, especially the top girl."

"The top girl?" Ash had to ask this. If he knew who this was, he was going to rip his hair out. "She must be good if she tops the 'world famous' Poketech academy."

"Yes, she is not only good in studies but also she is beautiful!" The boy, Billy said, with a blush. He removed a photo from his pocket and showed it to 3. Brock's jaw fell down, Ash had to remind himself that he wasn't a pervert and Yancy growled a little at Ash particularly when she saw a soft pink tint on his face, but she had to admit, that girl was pretty. "Don't you agree?"

"Man, as a gym leader I have seen my share fare of beautiful girls, but this is... Damn!" Brock said, his brains effectively fried. "I have to agree, she is beautiful."

"Yeah." Ash also muttered under his breath. "Just wait until you see her face to face and get to know her. Then tell me your thoughts."

Only Yancy heard his muttering and raised an eyebrow. Did he know who this girl was? Before she could question him, Billy spoke up.

"Really? From which city are you?" Billy asked. "According to my simulations, I already have enough experience to win 2 badges."

Brock frowned. Now he realised what was going on and understood what Ash meant. These guys relied too much on technology.

"I don't think you can say for sure unless you actually beat a gym leader." Brock said, folding his arms. "I am the gym leader of Pewter city, and if you think you can win against me, I challenge you to a battle."

Ash's eyebrows raised in amusement. So he got offended huh? Well, this was going to be very interesting. Very very interesting.

"Hmph, I accept you challenge, follow me." And it seemed billy wasn't going to back down. They came to a large field behind the pokemon school, a large battle field which looked very unkept and unmaintained. Once again, Ash cursed the school for not even trying to teach the students how to battle properly with true pokemon instead of fakes. "It will be a one on one battle, is that okay with you?"

"Yes." Brock curtly nodded, and called out his pokemon. "Let's go, Geodude."

"Hmph, I chose you, Wepinbell." The overly confident boy called out his grass type pokemon, a strange sort of insectivore flower, with a pink outer tip and 2 leaves on its side and a yellow body. "This match is already in my hands. I have a type advantage against you. You can go first."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Billy." Brock said. "Geodude, use stealth rock!"

Geodude broke some rocks from the ground, all with a sharpened edge, and threw it at Wepinbell, scattering around the ground.

"Use Razor Leaf, Wepinbell!" Billy commanded. Wepinbell shot out many leaves at Geodude, who dodged easily. Now, a week ago, while Brock was still in his gym with very less time to train his pokemon, he would have lost this battle easily, but now, after travelling with Ash for one week, and helping him train as well as training with him and Yancy, his pokemon had also grown stronger.

No longer was Geodude acting only as a forced first pokemon, he was now a strong pokemon in his team. Geodude was much faster, stronger and resistant than he was before. And as such, it wasn't a surprise to Ash that Wepinbell couldn't land in one hit.

"Geodude, use Mega Punch!" One other thing all of them had worked on was moves. Finding out quickly using the pokedex , all pokemon only learnt a set of moves via levelling up or evolution. The extra moves were learnt only by either move tutors or through breeding. In pallet, one thing Ash had learnt from his mother, who was a very skilled trainer in her past, was teaching moves. He read everything he could about moves, and knew a fair share of move tutoring. And one person knowing how it works was going to spread. Combined with the natural physical strength of Geodude, and it's rock/ground type strength, it wasn't a surprise that Billy's Wepinbell almost got taken out by one single move. He managed to stand up, barely. "Great job!"

"Wepinbell, get up!" Billy didn't know what to do. Such situations were never present in his simulations! "Damn it!"

"Finish it, Geodude, use Rock slide!" Many rocks were formed above wepinbell, crushing it under the rocks, knocking it out.

"No way." Billy was on literally crying. "How did I loose?! I had 2 badges!"

"Just because you had 2 badges doesn't mean you could underestimate him, Billy." A female voice said to him. Walking from the school was a beautiful brown haired girl, hair going till her knees, with a blue coloured dress and white sleeves. Ash's eyes hardened over when he saw her, and those usually cold and unemotional red orbs turned into extremely chilly and indifferent crimson. "He had much more experience then you did, it is why you lost. Please go inside and ponder on your loss."

The boy quickly ran off with his Wepinbell. The girl turned to the group, and as soon as her eyes met Ash's, her jaw dropped to the ground.

"Ash Ketchum." She called out to him, surprise clear in her eyes, along with a little respect for some reason. "I didn't believe nor even thought I would see you here agin."

"..." Ash's eyes never turned, nor retreated. They were still a shade of crimson only achieved when he was either angry, or didn't like something, probably the latter. "I am not surprised you aren't here, Giselle, but I can expect that of a spoilt girl like you."

"I am not going to listen to a boy talking bad about me especially when he only has 2 badges." Giselle shot back. "You did a mistake by leaving this school, and now look at you, with a mere 2 badges and going around like a hooligan."

"Hey!" Yancy butted in the conversation. "Don't you dare try to speak bad about Ash! He is good trainer!"

"And you are?" Her eyes had a sort of annoying glint in them. "Hasn't anyone taught you not to speak when 2 people are talking?"

"Hasn't anyone taught **you** that it is bad to insult someone if you don't know them?" Ash said to her, standing beside Yancy. "This is Yancy. She is my friend, way better than you were when I was back here."

"I see." He could sense a little betrayal in her eyes, but he didn't care about it. "If you have been travelling with ash, surely you must be a good battler. How about we fight? 1 on 1. If I win, you will admit that I am a better trainer than Ash is."

"And if I win, you will apologise to him!" Yancy shot back, both of their eyes grinding in the familiar tone of rivalry. Of course, Gissele didn't know what she was up against.

Sure, Giselle was a strong student in the poketech academy, but no one knew her outside the academy for she didn't have an official trainer's license. She was good, in simulations.

Yancy had faced the hardships of life and knew what it meant to battle to get something you wanted. She had learnt many things from Ash and Brock, one of them being how to properly train your pokemon and keeping them in shape. While the more theoretical part was handled by Brock since he was older, the practical part, or the most important part was taken over by Ash, and he did a very good job at it, a very good job.

So when she faced her opponents Cubone, a small dinosaur like pokemon with a skull on it's head, she was by no means intimidated when she sent out her Meowth against it.

"This will be a 1 on 1 battle between Yancy of Viridian Forest and Gissele of Poketech Academy." And to make things more interesting, it was turned into an official battle. Almost every single student was looking at the battle, and a quite a few teachers as well. "Since agreed pre-battle, this ground has a home advantage to Gissele, so she will send out her pokemon first while Yancy get's the first move."

"Cubone, let's show her who is the better trainer!" Gissele was confident, very confident. But Yancy was not far off.

"Meowth, time to roll!" Meowth was also pumped up for the battle. Almost every pokemon looked up to Ash and Pikachu, the deadliest trainer/pokemon combination out there. The 2 had taught every one of them a lot of things, and when one insulted one of them, it went personal. Meowth was hissing at cubone, her eyes turned into slits. "Use bite!"

"Dodge it Cubone!" Cubone dodged the ethereal image of a mouth, complete with sharp teeth that had formed around Cubone, and was about to inflict a lot of damage. "Use Mud-slap!"

Cubone kicked on the ground as if he was huffing, throwing mud at its opponent. Meowth waited for the mud to come near her.

"Meowth, dodge!" Meowth jumped aside as well. "Then use fury swipes!"

Quickly rushing at Cubone, Meowth swung her enlarged claws at Cubone, who was too slow to dodge it, and inflicted much damage on the ground type pokemon.

"Cubone!" Giselle cried out in worry for her pokemon. "Use Headbutt!"

"Counter it with Tackle!" Both pokemon clashed in the middle, their heads pushing against the other. Ash's eyes were narrowed down. Cubone was strong, sure, but there was one thing it was missing. It had no experience in battles outside of training. He didn't know what to expect for in a simulation one could expect what is to come. But against a real opponent, it didn't know what to do, because Gissele didn't know what to do. He knew that the minute Yancy had gotten in her Fury Swipes, the battle had already gone as a victory in her books, for Cubone and Gissele were both frustrated as to how she even got a hit on her. "Alright, enough games, finish this battle Meowth, use Iron Tail!"

Meowth's tail started to glow with a metallic sheen like Pikachu's did, and she struck it on top of Cubone. The supper effective move made a very large impact on Cubone. He slammed down onto the ground, eyes swirling. It was knocked out.

"Cubone cannot battle." Brock said with a smug smile on his face. "The winner of this battle is Yancy."

"Great job Meowth, we did it!" Yancy cried out in joy, hugging the cat pokemon to her chest. Meowth snuggled into her trainer's/friend's embrace and purred. Gissele on the other hand was still in disbelief.

"That's not possible." She muttered under her breath. "There's just no way! I am the best in the school, I won every single simulation, no matter how tough it was, yet why? Why am I losing against this no known trainer?!"

"I said I left for a reason." She looked up to see Ash's red eyes boring into her. "I knew this was going to be the case if you continued to listen to this schools preaching. What they did was not exactly teach you to train pokemon, but teach you to train a **software.** No matter how much you try, this is what will happen to you go out in the main field. This is why no student of this school has never made it through the exams of the league."

"Of course you would support her actions!" She snarked back at him. "Even she won against me, what makes you think **you** can win against me?! My final score in simulations was better than yours!"

"Alright, if you want it that way, we will decide it that way." Ash looked towards Brock, who was waiting at the refree's box. He nodded at him. "I know you have another pokemon, let's see if you can even touch mine. If you even manage to get one hit, let alone touch my pokemon, I will yield."

"Don't look down on me!" The girl shrieked. "I am the best trainer in this school! I will destroy you!"

All Ash did was walk towards his box. Yancy wanted to protest, but one look at Ash's eyes and all the protest left her mouth. They were almost glowing in determination and what one could term as disgust. Gulping, she prayed for the girl. An angry Ash usually meant a lot of trouble for the one who managed to anger him.

"This will be a One on One match between Ash Ketchum of Pallet town and Gissele from poketech academy." Brock once again said. The crowd cheered. Almost all knew Ash Ketchum through his scores during his short 1 month term in the school. He was the very best and finished all the simulations in one month, something never done before. And this battle was going to be good. "The first one to get a move will be Giselle."

"Pikachu, let's go." Ash called on his trusty starter, while Gissele went for her Gravler.

"Gravler, Magnitude!" She went for the kill straight. Ash sighed.

"Jump." Ash simply commanded Pikachu, who jumped the second Gravler slammed it's large rocky hands on the ground, the super effective attack doing nothing to it. "Iron tail."

Landing on his hind legs, Pikachu shot up once again, this time at mach speeds on top of Gravler, and slamming it's metallic tail on top of Gravler, sending it flying back. Landing once again, Pikachu waited for the opponent to move.

"Gravler! You have the type advantage! Use Mud throw!" Gissele commanded her pokemon, who shot out mud towards the sky, which rained down upon the ground. Still, none of the attacks had hit Pikachu. "Now his electric attacks will hold no power against you."

"Pikachu, Quick Break." What happened next had left everyone bamboozeled, none other than Gissele. Even Brock and Yancy had their jaws on the ground. Pikachu disappeared, literally disappeared and the next thing they knew was Gravler was sent flying into a tree behind Giselle, knocked out cold, and Pikachu standing where the ground type previously was. This all happened within 1 second. "..."

"Did he just mix **2 Attacks** into one?!" A voice from somewhere shouted out. Ash's eyebrows raised. He didn't recognise that voice, and for sure it was not a student. Well, it was to be pondered on later.

"G Gravler cannot battle. The winner of this match is Ash." Brock stuttered out. Man, that was some thinking Ash had gotten.

"You lose, Gissele." Ash said to her, Pikachu jumping on his shoulder. "Just remember I am a trainer with 2 badges and Yancy isn't even a Gym trainer. If this is what you are going to go on ahead with, a lot of people are going to be disappointed."

Without saying anything, Ash turned around and walked out of the school, leaving a shocked crowd, a heartbroken Gissele and his 2 even more shocked friends trailing behind him.

* * *

"So, when did you create that move?" Yancy asked him after catching up to him. He was standing somewhere almost a 100 meters away from the school, leaning against a tree on the road. "I mean, that was mixture between 2 moves that do not match. I thought you can't mix 2 moves together that aren't of a same type."

"I don't know." Ash said, biting his lip. "I just did it. I told Pikachu to use brick break while using Quick Attack to increase his speed. And this was created."

"Well, whatever you did, it for sure created a heck of a havoc in the school out there." Brock, who had stayed behind to talk to the headmaster, said. "The headmaster apologises for the trouble the students created for us, and tells us that he will for sure improve upon the school's teaching matters for you have opened his eyes. Also, Gissele has locked herself in her room and refuses to speak to anyone."

"Meh, that is what happens when you do something that is not expected by an extremely spoilt person." Ash said with a shrug. "Let's go, we need to get to Bill's place today, Professor Oaks parcel still needs to be delivered to him."

While the group once again made their way to the house of bill, the same spiky red haired man looked at Ash from the distance.

"You continue to interest me, Ash Ketchum." The man said an amused grin on his face. "Man, who would have thought you will create a move like that?"

Meanwhile shifting out attention to another part of the world, where very few had travelled off to, something stirred.

It was very well known to many people that there were 6 major regions and many minor regions in the world, there was another region, hidden in the mist, where no ship could travel to or no pokemon could fly to normally, a region that was forever submerged in darkness. And it seemed the darkness of that region was going to spread soon.

* * *

"Well, I guess this is it." Brock said, looking up at the large Light house come home there was in front of him. "I wonder how many people live in here?"

"I wonder how someone can even live in here." Yancy dryly said. Ash nodded. He won't like to live in such a huge house.

"Here goes nothing." Ash muttered, pressing the bell. He nearly jumped when a bell rang, literally, loud enough to be heard 2 miles away. For a few seconds, everything was silent. Then, a voice spoke out from the com on the other side.

"Whose it." The voice asked them.

"Uhh, my name is Ash. I am from Pallet town and am here to deliver a parcel from Professor Oak for bill." Ash said. There was silence on the other side of the door, before it opened automatically. The party of 3 plus 2 pokemon all gazed at one another, before entering.

The inside of the house was like a completely different dimension. Computers, everywhere. Many papers were lying around, all in a mess, and there were large machines, servers, computers, things they had never seen all around the room. And in front of them stood a small... pokemon.

"I isn't that a Kabuto?" Brock pointed a shaky finger at it. "H how is there a kabuto here?"

"I am not a pokemon." The kabuto spoke. Immediately, Yancy screeched and hugged onto Ash. Brock swore under his breath and backed off and Ash clenched his fists. "My name is bill. I was doing an experiment in which I wanted to find out what a pokemon feels when it lies on the ground. Unfortunately, it looks like my suit backfired and now I am stuck in this state. Can you help me by pressing the button on top of the suit?"

Indeed, there was a red coloured button on top of the suit, straight in between his eyes. Ash wanted to move ahead, but Yancy clenched onto him so hard that he couldn't even moved, and when he tried to, she started to whimper. So he looked at Brock, who bravely went ahead and pressed the button. A strange noise sounded off from the pokemon, before a red light overtook the pokemon, and a human suddenly emerged from the behind.

"Phew, it was getting difficult to breathe in there." The man said. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and khaki pants. "I am bill, nice to meet you."

"..." Ash only looked onto him blankly. "I think you know who I am."

"Ah yes, Ash ketchum, with the strange Charmander." Bill nodded. "I have heard about it from Professor Oak. Now I believe you have a parcel for me?"

"Yes, here." Ash said, giving him the parcel. The man took it, and immediately opened it. Nodding at the contents inside, he kept in on a table. By now, Yancy had let go of Ash, but was still holding his hand, something none of them noted. "Can I ask what was in there?"

"Oh, just a new and modified computer chip and some some data of strange pokemon recordings." Bill said, waving his hand. "Incidentally, Professor Oak said that you are headed off to Vermilion city after this right?"

"Yes." Brock answered him after Ash looked at him. "Or that is the plan since there are some rumours going on that entrance to Saffron city is currently denied from this side."

"Ah yes, they have closed of all entrances and are only operating the one from Celadon city for some reason." Bill nodded. "You know, since you guys did the trouble to head here, how about I give you something as a reward? I got these as a gift from some of my friends, but I don't think I can go there."

He presented them 3 tickets, for a ship. .

" ?!" Brock and Ash shouted at him, eyes popping out of their sockets. "How did you get your hands on that?!"

"What's ?" Yancy tilted her head. "Is it a ship?"

"It's a luxury cruise liner, the biggest of them all." Brock gulped, sweat literally pouring down his face. "It's the most expensive one as well."

"And these are suite tickets, said to be the most expensive tickets on the ship" Ash said, looking up at bill. "Why do you want us to go instead of you?"

"Well, considering who your mother is and what your name is, I believe people would like if you go in there, and you can't ignore your friends, so I gave them to you." Bill said, rubbing his head. "Please, do it for me."

"We will be honoured to." All the three of them nodded. After some more talk, the three left the lighthouse and towards Cerulean city, where the long road to vermilion awaited.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Author's notes- Been a while, 3 weeks to be exact. Seriously writing for my other story is a bloody pain in the ass. 15 days! From the 20** **th** **November to 5** **th** **December, I had to interrupt this story to write some words for that story.**

 **Anyways, here is the 7** **th** **chapter for this story. Yes, I know that I laid it thick on the Poketech Academy, and Brief for bills house, but I have plans for the both of them ahead, especially Bill. Same goes for the large Dragonite that appears during the Bill episode in the anime. It will make an Appearence, don't worry about that.**

 **Now, I am starting to hit a major stop point in my story. I don't know what to do about Ash's pokemon number 5, or also known as, Lapras or Espeon.**

 **I could give ash Espeon now, and Lapras in the Orange islands Arc, or I could give him lapras, and ignore the orange islands arc and go straight to Johto. If I do include the Orange Islands Arc, I don't know what to do about the movies.**

 **Details Details. What to do. Leave your own thoughts, I will also put up a poll for this.**

 **Regards...Omnipotent 97.**


	8. Route to Vermilion-First Musical Ever!

**Disclaimer-I don't own pokemon, It belongs to Satoshi Taijiri and the Nintendo company.**

"Talking"

" _Pokedex_ "

'Thinking'

Chapter 8- Road to vermilion City-The First Musical Ever.

Making their way to the south of vermilion city, towards the underground passage that connected the 2 cities, Ash, Yancy and Brock were currently walking on the main road leading them towards the said passageway.

It had been 3 days since Ash had won his second gym badge and 2 since they had gone and met Bill and the Poketech Academy Incident, and the meeting with bill. Yesterday had been all about final preparations for Yancy for she won't have that much time in the upcoming 3 days it will take them to reach Vermilion through route 5 and 6. She was very confident in the abilities of her Cleafairy and Meowth, both of them had trained a lot in their respective arts, and she herself was much more confident after she had been praised by many passing people looking at her pokemon performances.

Ash himself had gained little progress over his Charmander's training, having gotten help from Bill and Professor Oak. Now, Charmander could at least control his flames slightly, and aim a lot better. One thing he was surprised about was that he hadn't encountered Gary, Leaf or Boris since he encountered Leaf and Gary back in Viridian. Of course, he didn't know about Leaf's goals for the future, since she wasn't decided whether she wanted a carrier in pokemon, or just wanted to travel for fun, but Gary was expected since he had a friggin sports car.

Focusing their attention on the road, Pikachu's ears twitched slightly as his eyes darted towards the bushes ahead. Ash noticed what he saw and stopped, making the other 2 stop as well.

"Ash, is something wrong?" Brock asked him in concern. It was unusual for Ash to stop in the middle of travel, and looking at him stop like that was concerning and worrying. However, his red eyes stayed still on the bushes ahead, prompting both of them to look ahead.

A head was sticking out of the Bushes, with one single horn on top of it and a metallic body. The pokemon was staring at them, Brock in particular with eyes that basically screamed danger. Yancy removed her pokedex, similar to Ash as they both scanned the pokemon.

 **Rhyhorn, the metal rhino pokemon. They say that it's body is tougher than metal itself and it can run as fast as a speeding car. This Rhyhorn is a female and is on level 24.**

"Now that's a high level Rhyhorn." Yancy whistled. "Why is it looking at us for like that?"

"Brock." Ash silently whispered to the older teen, who nodded. "Go."

Brock stepped ahead, standing some paces in front of the Rhyhorn, both of them staring at each other. The Rhyhorn came out of the bushes, it's heavy body thumping every step he took, as he prepared himself for something.

"Let's go, Onix!"Brock sent out his onix, which came out with a roar. The Rhyhorn accepted the challenge, rubbing his back leg behind on the ground, and lowering his head. "Alright, use tackle!"

"ONIXXXX!" the boulder snake type pokemon lowered his head and rushed towards the Rhyhorn, who rushed back at him, both of them clashing heads on with a loud bang. Unbelievably, both of the pokemon were matching in strength.

"Onix, dig underground!" Listening to his trainer, Onix went underground, and way in. Rhyhorn growled, and raised one of his legs in the air, before slamming it back onto the ground, causing the ground to shake. "What the?"

"Magnitude." Ash said, his eyes raised. "On the higher scale as well. It's a toned down version of Earthquake, ranging from 1 to 10. I would term this one as 7."

"Damn it! Onix, get out of there and use slam!" The ground cracked as the large boulder snake pokemon appeared, it's tail ready to strike down on Rhyhorn. The said iron rhino's horn started to glow, and it slammed it's horn onto the tail, creating a large shockwave again. "I am guessing that was horn attack."

"Yes." Ash's eyes narrowed down. "Brock, end this battle quickly, if this guy know horn attack, I won't be surprised if it knows horn drill!"

"Horn Drill?" Yancy, who was too awed by the display of the 2 heavy set pokemon going in front of her question Ash. "Is it a special move?"

"It's a one hit K.O. Moves like that though have lower accuracy, but if they hit, no matter how strong the pokemon is, they K.O them in one move. Known moves are Horn Drill, Fissure, Sheer Cold and Guillotine." Ash said, closing his eyes. "If Brock wants to win this battle, he will have to finish it as soon as possible."

"Alright Onix! Use iron tail to finish it off!" Onix's tail started to glow, and it slammed it down on Rhyhorn's head, but surprisingly, Rhyhorn managed to stop the tail with its horn glowing. The ground buckled around him as his teeth gritted in pain as it held the super effective attack with a glowing horn of sorts. "Don't be surprised, use bite!"

This time though the Rhyhorn wasn't good enough, and could do nothing as it was crunched to the ground, leaving it almost fainted. Brock chose that moment to strike.

"Pokeball, go!" He flashed out a Pokeball and threw it at Rhyhorn, watching in anxiety as the ball shook once, twice, thrice... Ding!

"*Phew*" Brock sighed as he went ahead to pick up his newest pokemon. "This was a tough guy to capture. I was hoping I would find a good pokemon to catch, and this is as great as it can get."

"Well, you really lucked out that Rhyhorn did not know Horn Drill, or it would have definitely been your loss." Ash commented, looking at the destruction the battle between the 2 types had left behind. "And also that you weren't near any civilisation, the 2 of them fighting would have left you with a very big bill."

"Now I want to catch a new pokemon as well!" Yancy pouted. "Even though I love Meowth and Cleafable, I need newer ones as well!"

"I am sure you will get a chance in the future." Brock said, looking up at Onix. "Good job my friend, you did amazing. Take a nice long rest."

"OOOOOONNIIIXXXXX!" It roared happily before it got sucked into the Pokeball. Brock looked down at the one that had Rhyhorn. "Well, it's now or never."

He called out Rhyhorn, who immediately collapsed on the ground, grunting in pain.

"Hello Rhyhorn." Brock leant down to her eyelevel. "Nice to meet you, I am Brock, your new trainer. I must say you are a good battler. I know this will hurt a bit, but please bear with me, it will heal you in no time."

The Rhyhorn was confused as to what the squinty eyed trainer was saying, but howled in pain as a weird liquid was sprayed upon her, strangely, it felt good. Hearing a voice close to her, she saw up to see a Pikachu looking at her curiously. For once, she was tempted to scare it away by growling, but the amount of power she could sense in him was greater than in hers or even than that onix's.

"There, all done." Brock smiled, discarding the empty super potion. "Now all you need is a great rest for a night and you will be fine."

She purred as the strange human rubbed her head. Apparently deciding this wasn't a harmful one, she chose to go along with him to see where it leads.

"Now, rest." He said, calling the pokemon back into the ball. "She's not that bad."

"Well, that's a good capture you have gotten there Brock." Yancy commented looking at Ash's pokedex from his side while he was checking its moves. "Hmm, according to this, the moves that Rhyhorn knows are Horn Attack, Stomp, Fury Attack, Magnitude and Scary Face."

"It's a good move pool." Ash closed off the red coloured device and checked his Pokegear. His eyes widened. "Crud. We need to gallop guys, it's almost noon!"

And gallop they did. As per rules, you needed to register for the musical that was going to be held in vermilion 4 days later 2 days before deadline. So counting today, they had till end time tomorrow to reach Vermilion and register Yancy for the musical, or she would have to wait more for it.

It seemed however, that a certain trio had other plans.

It was reaching 1900 in the evening and the group of 3 plus one rodent had just gotten through the underground passageway connecting routes 5 and 6 and they had just found the perfect clearing to stop at. Just before they could sit to eat dinner that Brock had so graciously prepared for them, consisting of a tender and juicy wild berry stew and bread, which would taste even more heavenly after the day worth of travel, getting firewood, water and serving their pokemon, when out of nowhere a net was launched at the Pokemon. All but Bulbasaur had been caught, even the giant Onix.

"What the?!" Brock shouted out, getting up and extremely alarmed. "Who the hell did that?!"

* **Insert Team Rocket Motto Here.***

"Who are these creeps?" Brock asked Yancy and Ash, both of who had either angry or worried faces on them. "You look like you know them."

"They are bad people! They destroyed my house in Viridian Forest and also tried to steal Meowth and Pikachu!" Yancy pointed at them. "Ash, we need to stop them!"

"Hahahahah!" As a typical villain, the violet haired woman laughed. "Last time we were not prepared. But this time though, nothing will be able to get through us!"

"Yup! Check tis out, the Meowth Baloon Rockets!" The talking Meowth pressed a button on a remote control, causing 2 large giant sliding rockets to appear out of the side of the cart. How that was possible baffled Ash's mind. "Le's GO!"

And then the rockets fired up, giving extra propulsion to the balloon. But Team Rocket hadn't counted on one thing, a thing which Ash noticed.

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt on the right rocket! Charmander, use ember on the left one!" Apparently, any avionic object, basically something that could fly in the air, has to hold at least a little of Insulation against lightning and fire, and Team Rocket's Rockets{( **I can't help it guys!** )} did not have that certain feature. So it was expected when the rockets blew up entirely, causing the entire balloon to go into flames and fall down, with Team rocket in it. He looked down to see Bulbasaur growling at the downed team rocket. "Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf to set the others free."

"Not so fast!" James, the blue haired male of team rocket shouted out. "Go Koffing! Use sludge!"

"Help him Ekans, use Poison Sting." Jessie called out, both of them throwing their Pokeballs in the air to call out the living mine and the snake. Ekans shot forwards a lot of purple needles, while Koffing shot out a large ball of Sludge towards Bulbasaur.

"Ash, those 2 are Super effective moves!" Brock said to the raven haired trainer. "You know if they hit, it will be a devastating attack for Bulbasaur."

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" However, it seemed Bulbasaur had different ideas. Suddenly, he started to glow white. "BULBASAUR!"

"Wh What is that?!" Yancy shouted in shock. This was new. "Why is Bulbasaur glowing?!"

"Could it be?" If Brock's eyes could open up, they would be as wide as dinner plates. "Bulbasaur is... evolving!"

The bud on Bulbasaur's back opened up, a pinkish flower growing on his back complete with a 'seat' of leaves. He grew in size and his face changed shape, now appearing a lot more dangerous.

"Ivysaur!" The newly evolved Ivysaur called out. His eyes narrowed down, and he released a large barrage of leaves from his sided, colliding with the flying needles and the ball of gunk headed towards him. "Ivysaur!"

" _Congratulations. Your Bulbasaur has evolved into Ivysaur. Upon evolving, it has learnt the moves Grass Pledge and has unlocked the egg move, Petal Dance._ " The Pokedex called out in it's metallic voice. Ash smirked.

"Great job Ivysaur! Go, use Petal Dance!" A large amount of pink coloured petals appeared around Ivysaur from it's sides, twirling around him, and he sent them towards the opponents, not only hitting the Ekans and Koffing, but also the net in which the other pokemon were, freeing them all. "Now use Grass Pledge!"

The grass pledge that he unleashed sent the 2 enemy pokemon on top of their trainers and 'Boss' pokemon.

"I have a bad feeling about this." James muttered as he saw Ivysaur, Pikachu and Charmander line up, all of them grinning rather evilly, a grin matched by Ash. "Yup, definitely not good."

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Ivysaur, Grass Pledge! Charmander, Ember!" The barrage of electricity, fire and leaves clashed against team rocket, creating a large explosion, shooting them off in the sky.

"Team rocket's blasting off again!" was heard as they soon became a star in the sky. Well, a job well done. Ash looked down onto Ivysaur.

"So, you chose to evolve? I thought you didn't want to evolve." Ash asked his newly evolved pokemon, which said a few things to him, which gained a raised eyebrow from Ash. "I see, well, that's good. You were amazing."

"Pikapika!""Charmander!" Ivysaur's teammates gathered around him to get a better view, soon joined by the other pokemon. The 3 humans stood back.

"So, pokemon can change shape like this?" Yancy asked the 2 more 'experienced' trainers. "Does that mean my Meowth and Cleafairy can evolve as well?"

"Yes." Brock explained going back to the stew which luckily was off the fire. "Almost all the pokemon in the world can evolve, save for a few."

"Meowth evolves into a Persian." Ash chipped in. "And Cleafairy also evolves into a Clefable, but not through normal means."

"Eh? So I can't just tell it to evolve?" Brock burst out into laughter and Ash also started to chuckle, making Yancy pout at them. "Hey! I don't exactly know what evolution is okay!"

"Evolution happens at a certain time in a pokemon's growth, for example, every single normal starter pokemon in this world evolves somewhere around level 16-18." Ash said, closing his eyes as he leant on the hiking table they had set up. "That's known as evolution by level up. Once a pokemon evolves, it can't go back into its first stage, only evolve further ahead."

"So Ivysaur can evolve one more time?" Yancy's eyes were wide with awe. "Awesome! He's such a cool pokemon!"

"Well, many pokemon can evolve 2 times from it's 1st state, like Geodude, Charmander and Pidgey. Most of them in their fully evolved state are also very strong pokemon." Brock said, serving the stew. "However, that's only a level up evolution. Pokemon also evolve by being exposed to a stones that contain mythical energy within them."

"Pikachu will evolve into a Raichu if he is given a thunder stone. Similarly, Cleafairy will evolve into Clefable if he is exposed to a Moon Stone." Ash said. "Meowth will evolve normally, I don't know at which level though."

"I don't know about that, I mean, I have lived with Meowth my whole life." The pink haired girl looked at her cat like pokemon who was playing around with the others. "I don't think I would like it if she changes."

"It's a part of life." Ash said, looking into Yancy's blue eyes. "We cannot decide when they evolve, the only duty we have in that is the support we give our pokemon and respect their decision. I have respected Pikachu's decision. He doesn't want to evolve, and he won't evolve."

"W well, if you put it that way." She felt a little strange under the red coloured gaze of her first human friend, like butterfree's had popped out of nowhere in her stomach. "Umm, I am sure she will chose the decision that she believes is the best for her."

A strange heat had crawled up her face as his gaze never left her's And when it did, she felt a strange... disappointment. As if she wanted those eyes to remain focused on her and her only.

Ash didn't see anything wrong and went back to eating his stew but Brock did, and he grinned. Yancy's face, specifically her cheeks had a pink tint on her face, a very healthy pink tint. Yup, she definitely had fallen for Ash. But he filed that in his back. The 2 were too young to think about that right now. Perhaps, in the future, he might discuss that topic with Ash but not for now. It was better if he did it that way.

That however didn't stop him from creating a folder that said 'Blackmail material for Ash and Yancy' in his mind.

* * *

"Huh?" Just before they could reach vermilion, they had chosen to stop for some lunch. So like usual, Ash was in charge of getting water, but what he found by the stream nearby wasn't only water. Sitting on the edge was a turtle like pokemon, with a blue coloured body, brown coloured upper shell and a cream coloured lower shell, simply munching on some berries. "A squirtle?"

"Squirt?" The squirtle looked up. "Squirtle Squirt!"

It looked slightly angry that he had interrupted his meal, and was warning him to get back. Pikachu took this as his cue.

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped down and started to talk to it. "Pikachu Pika!"

"Squirtle!" The squirtle growled back, gobbling up the rest of his food. "Squirtle Squirtle!"

"Pikapi Pika!" Apparently, whatever Squirtle had said was offensive to Pikachu, and he started to sparkle with electricity. "Pikachu!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle suddenly charged ahead. "Sqirtle!"

"Dodge it!" Ash knew this would turn out to a battle. "Can't you guys talk it out? We only just want water!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shook his head in denial, the electricity in its cheeks growing even more potent. "Pikapi!"

"Well, can't be helped." Ash sighed. "Jump over it and get on it's shell!"

"Pika!" doing as said, Pikachu jumped over the Squirtle, and on it's shell. However, both the Pikachu and trainer sweat dropped when the Squirtle was sent to the ground. "Pika?"

" _Squirtle, the water turtle pokemon. During battle, this pokemon hides in its shell that sprays water at its opponent whenever it can."_ The pokedex said as Ash scanned it. " _This squirtle is a male and is on level 3. It's reduced size indicates that it is a new born pokemon._ "

It was then Ash noticed the squirtle was indeed smaller than the one he had seen with gary, probably 2 to 3 inches shorter. The Squirtle suddenly started to cry from under Pikachu.

"SQUIRTLEEE!" Ash was prepared for a stronger and much more experienced Squirtle to come out, or even a Wartortle or a Blastoise, but no one came. Ash's red eyes widened in realisation.

"Are you... alone?" Ash asked softly, commanding Pikachu to get off the Squirtle. "Don't you have any parents?"

"Squritle." The Squirtle shook it's head, making some signs. "Squirtle."

"Pikapika!" Pikachu used his own handgestures to translate what he was saying. "Pikachu."

"So you were abandoned because you were a cry-baby?" The tears once again started to flow. Ash sighed. "Well, can't be helped then. Would you like to come with me?"

"Squirtle?" The water type looked up. "Squirtle Squirt?"

"Yes, I am going on a journey all around the world to be a Pokemon Master. I am sure I will run into your parents or pack sometime." Ash said. "In fact, I can help you train to show your pack you aren't a cry baby."

"Not so fast!" A voice came from beside him. Standing some distance away were 2 men, wearing Black outfits with Red R's on them. "We spotted that Squirtle first boy!"

"I am pretty sure I was talking to this Squirtle for the last 10 minutes." Ash replied back, his soft visage going cold once again.

"Grr!" One of the grunts growled, removing his Pokeball. "Go Growlithe! Teach this boy a lesson!"

"You too Zubat!" Ash's eyes narrowed. On one side, it was a Zubat like Brocks. The other was a Growlithe, a small, orange, yellow and black coloured fire type puppy. "Give up the Squirtle."

"Not a chance. Pikachu, Let's go. Charmander, I chose you!" Ash picked up the squirtle, and called onto his Charmander who appeared outside, the blue flame on it's tail ready for use. "Pikachu, Iron Tail on Zubat, Charmander, Tackle on Growlithe, go!"

"Growlithe, you also use Tackle!"

"Zubat, you use Air cutter!"

Both Charmander and Growlithe bashed their heads together in the middle, while Zubat sent out small bursts of air from it's wings, taking the shape of sharp 'boomeranges' as hey headed towards Pikachu, whose tail was already glowing with a metallic tint. Pikachu ducked to dodge the Air cutter, and delivered a nasty Iron Tail onto Zubat's face, sending it on the ground.

"Good work. Pikachu, use Thundershock! Charmander, you use Mega Punch!" Charmander's hand was engulfed in white light, shining as it punched the living daylights out of Growlithe, sending it back, while Pikachu's thundershock fried Zubat. Both Charmander and Pikachu stood side by side, flames engulfing Charmander's mouth, and sparks flying around Pikachu's cheeks. "Finish them off! Ember and Thunderbolt!"

Small embers of blue flames and a large torrent of electricity were seen in the distance, followed by an explosion as 4 different objects flew up in the sky towards no place in particular. Both Pikachu and Charmander high-fied.

"Good job you two." Ash said with a smile, and looked down to the Squirtle who was looking at the 2 pokemon with stars in his eyes. "So, what do you say?"

"Squirtle!" The squirtle suddenly hugged him back so hard Ash was sure his back was paining. "Squirtle Squirtle Squirtle!"

"Alright Alright, let's go." Ash chuckled. Inwardly, he mused that he had managed to get all the 3 starters of the Kanto region without any hassles, and far too soon in his journey. Well, a great way to bond, if you look at it that way.

* * *

"It took us 2 days to get here, almost 2 days." Brock said as he looked at the city starting to appear in the distance. "One of the biggest port cities in the world, Vermilion city."

"And also the city that holds my first Musical!" Yancy said from beside him. "Don't forget that, and Ash's third gym as well."

"And also , if you look at it that way." Ash also added. Pikachu and Meowth, the 2 pokemon who were almost always out of their balls, were walking in front of them. "So Brock, any idea as to what should I expect from this Gym?"

"Hmm, if I remember, I am sure I said that this gym is an Electric type gym, the leader was an army lieutenant once." Brock said, rubbing his chin and looking up. "But regardless of his Army achievements, he is a very good and strong trainer for a badge considered to be the 3rd badge of the league. The only reason it's not the 4th one is because the gym leader of Celeadon specialises in grass types."

"So it will be a tough battle. Well, I have my pokemon ready." Ash rubbed the Pokeballs for Ivysaur and Charmander. "Squirtle is too young to even try getting into a battle right now, let alone this one. What about you, Yancy? Are you ready?"

"I have done all the training I could have." Yancy said, a smile slowly gracing her lips, a confident smile. "I don't know how far I will go, but I will definitely go till the second round for sure!"

"You should try your best, perhaps you might go win this as well." Ash said, looking at her with his eyes pointed to her. "I know you will do good, just don't give into overconfidence. Except that, yup, you have done a very great job."

"Hm!" She nodded with a bright smile. "I believe in Meowth and Cleafairy, they will do great!"

Luckily, the registration had been extended till afternoon the next day, and they were able to make it in time for Yancy to register for the musical, the first musical that would be held in the world, and an event that clearly was going to blow away everyone's mind as to what could a trainer do with their pokemon when it does not involve battling.

So here they found Yancy, in the backyard of the Vermilion pokemon centre, with Ash and Brock in the sidelines as Yancy instructed her 2 pokemon for the last time.

"Alright guys, listen up. The musical starts in 2 days, so we won't get a chance to come up with anything new." Yancy said with a tone reminding them of a teacher or coach. "But that doesn't mean we can't go through some more rounds of practice. Remember, I will be using Cleafairy and her juggling styles in the first round and Meowth with her tunes in the second. So, don't try to get too ahead of yourself, alright? Even though I do want to win this, I don't know how far I will be able to reach, but I atleast hope we manage to reach till round 2."

"Nyaa!" "Fairy~"

So the 2 once again started their practices, while Ash and Brock watched them.

"She has come far from when I told her when the competition will be held." Ash said. "I don't know about you, but I believe she will at least reach till the semi's."

"Yeah, pretty much the same here, perhaps she might even get to the finals if she has the luck with her." Brock said with a smile, however, he wasn't focusing on Yancy. It was then Ash noticed the dreamy look Brock had as he was openly staring at a passing woman in the distance. "Yeah, a real good potential she has."

"*sigh*" Ash sighed and decided to ignore the tanned wannabe breeder beside him as he continues to observe Yancy doing her training. It was then his Pokegear rang. Raising an eyebrow, he picked it up to see an unusual number on it.

"Hello." He asked carefully. "You are speaking to Ash Ketchum, may I know who is this?"

" _My name is William, William Grant_." The voice on the other side of the phone was friendly and slightly grizzled. " _I am the headmaster of the Poketech academy. It is a pleasure to speak to you formally, Ash Ketchum_."

Ash's eyes were wide. William Grant? He didn't know this headmaster, did they change the old one?

" _If you are wondering what happened to Mr. Jose, then yes, he has been removed_." William spoke. " _Regardless of that, I will not take much time, I know you are a busy young man with your travels and I am a busy man with my own work. You see, while I was meeting Professor Bill, he spoke about you and your achievements you managed to obtain in the past 3 weeks of your journey, and I also heard about your little encounter with one of the students studying in my university, in fact, I also heard you and your friend managed to defeat this person without any troubles at least on your side. I will be blunt, I want to meet you in person and talk to you about something."_

"I am honoured to hear that, Mr. Grant." The habits of how to talk to a person much more older and much higher than him and respected then him had been drilled into him since a young age by his mother, he was, after all, the next one in line to lead the company that had been in his family for generations. "But I am afraid I am no longer near Cerulean, I am currently in Vermilion City."

" _Yes, I know that. Professor Bill also told me that he had given you 3 tickets for you and your friend to the ship in , am I correct?_ " William, asked, mentally making some 'calculations'.

"Yes."

" _Co-Incidentally, I also happen to have a ticket for the that leaves the next week, and I also happen to be present for the festivities held in the boat._ " William hinted what he meant, which Ash caught onto without any trouble. " _I am pretty sure we can meet on the , if that is not a problem with you._ "

"Of course not." While yes, he did hold the Poketech academy in a bad light, but not the teachers or the students, alright, maybe some of them, but clearly not this man for he didn't even know him. "Where and when on the boat do you want me to wait for you?"

" _Fantastic. I will give you the exact details after I get into the boat._ " The man sounded incredibly excited. " _I am pretty sure this will give us both a good opportunity to discuss your ill views about my school, and what you believe will help us grow better. Well then, I await for next week, Master Ketchum. I shall not trouble you anymore, have a great day._ "

"You too sir." And the phone was cut off. He looked towards the side to see Brock looking at him, curiosity in his eyes. Sighing, he spoke of the entire tale that happened over the phone.

"Well, if I didn't knew better, I think he was trying to recruit you into some cult or something." Brock joked. Ash cracked a grin at that. "So, are you seriously going to meet him?"

"Yes, like it or not, if I don't not only will people take it in the wrong way, but my mother will probably kick me around kanto." Ash said, sighing. "Besides, it's just a meeting, not exactly a negotiation or dealing of sorts."

"Yeah, what can go bad if it's only talking, right?" Brock said, looking back at Yancy. A strange shiver travelled down both of their spines.

'Why do I have a feeling that he/I jinxed us somehow?' Both Ash and Brock thought, but brushed it off. Oh you poor, poor fellows, you have no idea what was going to happen, just, no ideas.

* * *

" **Ladies and Gentlemen!** " The man in the mic, a man dressed in the outfit of a typical conductor, waved his hands all around the entire 'stadium' more like, a hall they were in. " **Welcome to the first Pokemon Musical ever!"**

The crowd went wild. When Ash had first arrived here, he didn't think there would be so many people, but this, this was absolutely ridiculous!

" **As explained many times before on TV commercials, Brochures and articles, this event consists of showing off a pokemon's skill in doing something other than battling and also, a Trainer's skill in making their Pokemon do something completely out of the box!"** The man explained. " **And it is an honour for me, Gillian, to present you this wonderful event, and out judges for the day!** "

2 lights came out of nowhere, focusing on 2 different spots side by side each other, where 1 man and 1 woman sat, both of them waving their arms at the crowd. One was the familiar figure of Nurse Joy, while the other one was a Man wearing a strange Cap, a red nose and make-up. Upon further instruction, it turned out to be a clown.

" **Let me introduce you our first judge of the day, our own Nurse Joy of Vermilion City!** " Gillian said, pointing his arm towards the nurse.

"It will be a pleasure for me to judge this wonderful event." The nurse said, a sweet smile on her face.

" **And our second Judge, Head Clown Roan of the Singing seas Circus!** " The crowd went ballistic at that. The Singing Seas was one of the biggest Circus's in the world, and the most greatest as well. Travelling around the world, they were known to hold shows that always went full, not even 1 empty spot, ever.

"Bonjour!" The man bowed and removed his cap, a strange head popping out of it attached with a string that made his own head bobble and the others laugh. "It is a great pleasure for me to see the talents of young people hoping to aim for the top. I hope I get to see quite a few incredible performances!"

" **So without further adeu, let's begin with round one, the individual performances!"** Gilian said. " **The first one that will come on stage will be...** "

One by one, many people came in on the stage, showing off what their pokemon could do aside from battling. There was this dancing Golduck, or a magician Kadabra, all sorts of varities. Some incredibly interesting, some not so much.

In the backstage, Yancy was getting more nervous by the passing second. As per the requirement, she was wearing a different dress, a cute pink coloured dress enhancing her hair, which had been tied in a ponytail falling on the left side of her head. The dress went down till her lower knees, where high socks took over, going till her lower knees, and heels on her feet. A simple blue coloured band was on her shoulder. All in all, she looked fantabulous.

"You know, the more nervous you get, the more unconfident you become." From behind her, another person spoke. It was a man, probably in his early 20's or his late teens. He was wearing a simple black coloured suit, complete with pants and a red bow-tie. He had shaggy golden coloured hair, green eyes and pale white skin. Simmilar to Yancy, he also had a band on his shoulder. "I am sorry to interrupt you from your thoughts, but you looked like you needed company. I am Dane by the way, Dane Suvilian, nice to meet you."

"Y Yancy Orchid." She introduced herself with a smile. "You are also taking part?"

"Oh yes, I know my outfit looks like one of the helpers-." As he pointed to the helper, she couldn't help but sweatdrooped. The only difference between the helper's outfit and his outfit was, 1 ,he had a bowtie and 2, he was wearing a participants band like her. "- But I am here to participate. I know I am a little too old to participate in such an event, but I tried my luck in battling, and I didn't turn out so good, so I decided to change my career. What about you? I have a feeling you are new to this game."

"Yes, it is only because of a dear friend of mine that I am here, or I would still be at... home." She spoke, pausing for a bit to find a proper word to describe her little cabin in the viridian forest which was now destroyed. "And this is the first time I am doing such things so... I am a lot nervous."

"Well, as I said, the more nervous you are, the more the chances of failing are." Dane said, smiling. "I remember my first chance at going in the middle of a crowd, 10 times bigger than this one I mind you, and battling. I was surprised I didn't wet my pants actually."

"That doesn't make me any more relived." Yancy deadpanned.

"Hmm, think of it as this way. This friend you spoke off, is he or she watching you right now?" Yancy nodded. "Then do it for him or her. If they believed in you thinking you could do it, then you will be able to do it. Think of it this way, you are going out there not to win, but to impress the person that is the reason you are here, to show them that you are also capable of great things."

"Capable..." Yancy looked down at her hands, thinking of the life debt she owed to Ash. Had he not been here, she would have been dead or incredibly injured by those Beedrills, or would be living her worse than average life in viridian city. She had to do this for him...

" _ **Dane Suvilian, please make your way to the stage, Dane Suvilian, please make your way to the stage.**_ _"_ A voice rang out. Dane turned to Yancy and smiled.

"Well, looks like it's my turn next." He started to walk off. "I hope to see you in the next round, Yancy."

On the stage, one boy just finished showing off the Punching skills his Mankey had.

" **Now coming on stage is Dane Suvilian from Fuscia City!** " Dane came out with a running start, and chucked his pokeball out up in the air, calling on his pokemon. With it's entire body purple, 2 arms and legs and a menacing grin on his face, Dane's gengar laughed out loud and began his act.

The first thing he did was a very funny yet accurate silent monologue of a man going to work, complete with getting up, brushing his teeth, wearing clothes and stuff like that. His act was so funny that even Ash couldn't help it but laugh out. Complete with blow up dolls, trickboxes, and the use of his levitation, Dane had presented a very funny act that sure did win the hearts of everyone.

"Bravo, Bravo!" The Head Clown couldn't help but contain his excitement. He was incredibly impressed. "I have never seen such an act let alone from a pokemon. Clearly you have trained you friend into doing such stuff well!"

"That was funny, and incredibly realistic, I should say so myself. In fact, I had to remind myself that it was a Pokemon that did this." Nurse joy also praised him. "That was great."

With an entire orchestra of cheers and claps, Gengar and Dane left the stage.

As he was going back, he encountered Yancy, who was supposed to be the next one on the stage.

"Wow Dane, that was incredible!" Yancy said with eyes full with childlike awe. "I mean, I don't think I would have been able to think it that way."

"Well, Gengar's always been a fun loving pokemon. When I gave him this idea, he was all in for it." Dane said, rubbing his Gengar's head, who laughed in it's eerily laugh again.

"Gengar!" The pokemon grinned at her. "Gengar Gengar!"

"He's wishing you best of luck." Dane said. "And from me as well. I am sure you are going to do rock the stage."

* * *

" **Now for our final contestant of the day, We have Yancy Orchid from Pallet town!** " Ash raised his eyebrows. Since when was she of Pallet? Did his mom do something behind his back to get her into Pallet town?

Yancy came out with a lot of confidence in her posture, a complete 180 compared to what she was in her room. The crowd gasped to see such a little girl, and cute as well, performing in front of such a crowd.

"Clefairy, Lets go!" As soon a Cleafairy came out, a 5 bowling pins were tossed into the air, the airborne Cleafairy catching them all, and landing on her feet, with her juggling act starting. It started with 5 pins, then increased to 8, then to 10 until Cleafairy had 12 bowling pins in her hands. The crowd could only stare as the little cleafairy juggled 12 bowling pins without any troubles, under the eye of a 10 year old.

As if it was some sort of miracle, Yancy took it to a whole other level.

"Alright Cleafairy, time to do the twirl!" Now, Cleafairy started to toss the pins as fast as she could high into the air, and jumped to go on her hands, juggling the pins with her legs, and the, she started to twirl around with one hand, the Pins looping in the air creating a nice sphere of pins. After 2 minutes, the act was over, and she caught all the pins in her hands after flipping once.

The crowd went ballistic. They had expected probably a good show, but not this good. Ash and brock were loudest of all the clappers, clearly happy for their friend. Infact, even the Judges had stood up clapping for her.

So not to disappoint the crowd, both Yancy and Cleafairy bowed once.

"I have seen many acts and skits in my entire life, but this, this completely surpasses all that I have seen." Roan commented. He removed his hat and bowed. "All I can say is, Hats off, this is the best I have seen so far."

"I am very impressed someone so young could do such hard stuff in only 2 weeks after the musicals were announced." Nurse joy praised her. "You will definitely go far."

With a very big smile on her face, Yancy left the stage, waving once to the crowd. Inside the backstage, she was welcomed with claps and pats to the back, making her blush a cherry red. Clearly she wasn't used to such attention.

"Why the hell were you nervous?!" Dane asked her with comically wide eyes. "That was friggin Awesome!"

"W well, it was my first time going up against such crowds." She stuttered out once the hype was cleared. "And I am not exactly the best when it comes to crowds. But you know what, I liked it."

"Yancy, I really hope I face you in the finals of this Musical." Dane said, a serious glint in his eyes. "If I don't I really will be disappointed."

"Of course, but promise me you will do the same." Now there was the 'Ash influence' she had in here, always ready to accept a challenge. "In fact, I will win this without any problems!"

" **So after this long and very exciting round of performances, now we have come to a conclusion!"** Gillian once again took the mic, the screen above having 8 Boxes. " **And the 8 people to pass on to the second round are...** "

One by one, faces started to appear on the boxes, Yancy's being the second one after Dane's. As soon as all of them Appeared, they started to jumble, and a tournament grid was formed, Yancy was paired up against some man with a brown coloured goatee with the name Nex below, the third match of the second round.

" **Matches will start after a 2 hour break, until then, contestants can move around in the hall premises.** " Gillian said, walking off the stage.

* * *

"Holy hell Yancy, that was incredible!" Brock was the first one to comment when they met up in the cafe section of the musical hall. "Your training clearly paid off."

"I told you, believe in yourself." Ash said with a grin. "You were amazing."

"T Thank you." She said bashfully, with pink cheeks. "You guys helped me a lot for this. By the way, I want to introduce you to someone. Dane, this is Brock and Ash, they are my friends. Ash, Brock, this is Dane, he helped me when I was getting a bit nervous."

"Nice to meet you." The aforementioned trio chimed.

"So, nervous again huh?" Ash asked in amusement, making Yancy blush a rosy pink. Dane caught onto it and grinned.

"You should have seen it, she looked ready to explode at any given moment." Dane sniggered as Yancy started to pout. "In fact, I am surprised she was still conscious."

"Yeah, even I was." Ash and Dane burst out into laughter at seeing the incredibly adorable pout on Yancy's face, along with her red face. "Dear lord!"

"T That's priceless!" Even Ash was laughing out, loud, and that was saying something. Brock was also chuckling, a tint of a perverted tone to it as he openly stared at a woman walking behind Yancy.

"Y You two are mean!" Yancy huffed with tearful eyes and looked away, grumbling and pouting. "Stop laughing!"

But the 2 didn't stop, instead, started to laugh harder, until Yancy had enough of it.

"Pikachu." She sweetly cooed to the yellow furred rodent eating a piece of bread on the table. His ears perked up, and he looked to see a mischievously smiling Yancy. "Can you help me?"

"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head, a piece of bread in his hands. "Pika Pikachu?"

"Can you shut those 2 up for me?" Yancy said, rummaging through her bag beside her and removing the object of Pikachu's dreams, Ketchup. "I will give you this if you do it."

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded with delightful eyes, his cheeks starting to sparkle. "PIKACHU!"

*Crack!**Thud!* The entire cafeteria turned to see 2 smoking figures twitching on the ground, charred black like a perfectly roasted steak.

Now, people had a lot of different attitude, like the emotionless and indifferent on the outside but kind and gentle on the inside for Ash, the perverted yet matured for Brock and so on. But for Yancy, no matter how much she tried to be indifferent and stubborn, she was too damn kind for her own good. So even though it was her who wanted them to have some sort of retribution to laugh at her, she was the one who freaked out.

"Oh no, I am so sorry!" She cried, immediately going down to check on them. "I only wanted revenge on you for laughing at me, but I didn't know Pikachu would be so brutal and-."

"Geez, that's enough." Dane croaked out, getting up with some shudders, his hair all spiked up. "Man, that's one Pikachu you have gotten there."

"Y Yeah." Ash groaned from the ground. "You should see him when he is pissed off."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu took that as his cue to look incredibly innocent. "Pikachu?"

"Yeah, innocent ain't the perfect description used to describe you buddy." Ash deadpanned, but rubbed the rodent's head fondly. "Don't worry though, I won't hold a grudge for this."

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered and went onto drinking from the ketchup packs he had gotten from Yancy.

"Hey, it's nearing showtime." Dane said, checking his wristwatch. "I think we should leave soon."

"Yeah." Yancy straightened out here dress and removed a Pokeball, calling out Cleafairy. "Cleafairy, you did a wonderful job, but I need you to sit out for this one, is it okay for you?"

"Cle-fairy!" Cleafairy sang, jumping into Yancy's arms to give her a hug, which Yancy returned, squeezing her pokemon tight.

"Now be a good girl and stay with Ash, is it okay with you?" Cleafiary nodded, and jumped onto the table, watching as Yancy and Dane said their goodbyes and walked back inside the Backstage entrance. Now, it was time for round 2.

* * *

The first match wasn't all that worth of notice, especially since it didn't have anyone they knew. The only thing interesting to watch was how one of the quarterfinalists managed to make a pokemon as big as a Rhydon do something as complicated as ballet dancing, though he lost in the end because seriously, Rhydons and Ballets don't work.

The second match was of Dane against some girl from Lavender town, Dane choosing his second pokemon, a Wigglytuff for this one, which with her singing had managed to completely destroy the offending guys Machoke's Airboxing.

Then, it was Yancy's turn.

" **Now, it's time for the most awaited match of the day!"** Gilian shouted out to the crowd, Yancy and Nex standing on 2 boxes in front of each other. " **On one side we have the Dancing charmer, Nex and on the other, the little Princess, Yancy!** "

At Yancy's name, people started to cheer as loud as they could, and to her credit, she didn't even notice it, too much into the battle. Upon the signal, she called out her meowth, while Nex called out his Primape.

" **The one to go first will be Primape with his Show, following that, it will be Yancy's turn. Both of your will get 5 minutes to put on the greatest show you can. The winner will be decided by the amount of votes earned from the People and the points from the Judges, remember, it will be a 40-60% addition.** " Gillian said for the third time in the day. " **Please begin**!"

Nex, as his name suggested, was a dancer, and he had trained his pokemon to dance as well. Starting with normal moves, he went into more complicated moves as Micheal Jackson's beat it sounded out in the entire hall, going to actual break dancing in the end. His time ended just as Primape did his last move. A bell rang as the Spotlight that was focused on Primape the whole 5 minutes shifted to Yancy's Meowth, who was sitting with 2 'tables' in front of her, her claws already out and looking ready to strike.

As her time started she started to play a tune that started of slowly and softly, rapidly increasing in beats and volume until it became audible to the public without any form of loudspeakers required. The tune was so melodious and charming, it earned the hearts of everyone, even the audience. It was as if they were sitting in an orchestra, where the job was done by one single Meowth. She also ended her performance in 5 minutes. The lights came back on , and the crowd started to cheer again.

" **That signifies the end of this contest. Participants, please look up to see who qualified.** " With crossed hands, Yancy looked up to see the increasing numbers on both sides, until both stopped. For Nex, he received a 24 out of 30 from the judges and 96 out of the 500 people present, making his total score as a 53. Yancy had gotten 29 out of 30 from the judges and a flipping 404 from the audience, making her score 179, clearly the winner of the match.

" **And it is decided that it will be Yancy who will move onto the semi-finals!** " Yancy cheered once, and hugged Meowth to her chest, who mewled and licked her cheek. A dis-heartened but yet not depressed Nex congratulated Yancy and hoped to meet her in the Pokemon Orchestra one day and left.

The next match was an easy win for a man who had an eevee that could draw with it's tail and it drew an incredibly realistic image for a photo. The comparison against his opponent was not even worth noticing.

The semi final match was Dane against the man who won the first match of the quarters and Yancy against the one who won the 4th match. Both of them easily defeated their opponents with a margin of over a 100 points on their side. Finally, it was time for the most awaited match of the day.

" **Now we come down to the final and the most awaited moment, the match which will decide who will win this Vermilion Rom!** " Gilian said over the mic, showing off a vermilion coloured CD inside a casing that said Vermilion rom. " **Both of these contestants have done an incredibly good job at making it this far off in the first musical ever, charming the audience with such incredible performances that they completely blew everyone's minds away. Now, this is the match that will decide what matters the most. So, are you ready!?"**

The crowd roared in return as both Dane and Yancy called out their pokemon. The lights went out, the spotlight on Yancy's Meowth first this time as she started her tune off with a classical symphony of Ludwig Van Beethoven, the 5th symphony to be particular, played out exceptionally well, until she hit the 2 and a half minute mark where she somehow merged the Fur de Elise in the 5th symphony, creating a very beautiful mixture of the 2 masterpieces.

When it was Dane's turn, his wigglytuff started to sing a melodious song that reminded everyone of let it go from Frozen. It was also well tuned and well sang, as close as it can get to the real frozen, without the lyrics of course. It was still a mystery as to how that Meowth of team rocket could speak.

" **That was an incredible performance by both of the contestants, and they did perform to the best of their abilities. Now, it is time for us to find out what is going to be the end result!"** The next few moments were nerve wrecking for both Dane and Yancy, as they looked up at the results where both of them had gotten 250 by the audience, an exact match, all depended on the judges. Yancy had gotten a 24 out of 30 from the judges, while Dane had a 25, meaning, Dane had won, by one point, having a 115 compared to Yancy's 114. " **So it's decided, the winner of this musical is Dane Suvilian from Fuscia!** "

Dane grinned brightly, hifying his Wigglytuff, while Yancy gave out a depressing sigh, but still, smiled brightly. This was an incredible experience for her, and she had given a good fight. And now, she could be more careful so she could win the next time they fought.

* * *

"So, I guess this is it." After the Musical was finished, and the prizes were given out, the group of Ash, Brock and Yancy met Dane in the Pokemon centre. "I need to make my way to cerulean where the next Musical is being held in 7 days."

"Aww, we just arrived from Cerulean." Yancy pouted, looking towards the side. "And I don't think I can make it there in time, we have a lot to do."

"Yeah, with Ash's gym battle coming on and then the trip in , we have a lot to do in this week." Brock said. "So if you win that, you will only have to win 1 more huh?"

"Yup." Dane nodded, patting a case he had on his belt where the Vermilion rom was held. "By the way, I heard that there is going to be a Musical in Lavender town 2 weeks from now, I don't think I will be able to make it there in time since the one in cerulean is a week later and there's just no way I can go through the rock tunnel in a week. You can take part there Yancy."

"Well, considering the fact that will stop at lavender port, we might be able to get there in time." Ash said. "And besides, we need to get to Lavender to go to Celadon and Saffron as well."

"Yup." Brock nodded. "For some reason, gates through Saffron are only open on the Celadon side, and the 5th gym in the region which Ash will have to inevitably challenge is out there."

"Well, all I can say is good luck." Dane said with a smile, giving a 2 fingered salute. "Till then, my friends."

So with a very educational experience in hand, Yancy made a new goal for her life, a goal to one day beat Dane, and win the Pokemon Orchestra. What their journey held, only time would tell.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Author's notes- Well, it has been a very long time since I updated for this story, almost a month, so I sincerely apologise to whomever was looking forward to this. I absolutely love you guys who have given me support to write this.**

 **9k words, 1000 short of 10k, a complete mind blowing achievement for me. The biggest chapter I have written so far in the combined compilation of any of my stories. Now I know that this Chapter isn't the best one out there, but what can I say, I liked it, and I sure hope you do too.**

 **As you can see, I have made quite a change from the musicals in the BW and B2W2 games. First of all, I don't like the idea of dressing up your pokemon so much it looks bloody ridiculous. And second, it was slightly boring, so I made into slight of a rap battle styled tournament. And I clearly loved this idea. Also, if you guys don't know the 2 symphonies I have listed as the tunes Meowth played, well, your loss. As an helpful person, I would say you should listen to them, they are really good. And I hope you like my OC, Dane as well. And no, he isn't going to be a rival for Ash for Yancy, come on guys, he is in his late teens, that means, he's above 18, he won't go for a girl 10 years younger!**

 **Finally, I come to this, I have decided what to do with Ash's next pokemon. You will get to see it the next chapter or the one after that by the latest. It's not snorlax, I can tell you that. Well, just wait and see.**

 **The next update will take a less time, hopefully since I really want to get this story going, considering I also have to write for The Dragon King. Well, enough from me, see you guys next time. Good bye and take care.**

 **Regards...Omnipotent97.**


	9. Vermilion City Gym-The sinking SS Anne 1

Chapter 9- Vermilion City Gym- The sinking part 1.

Sitting in his room, Ash was looking at his Pokedex in concentration. The page that was currently on the screen was of his pokemon and their levels. In the past one month of travelling, he had conquered 2 gyms and caught 4 pokemon, something not expected of a starting trainer who was 10 years old, at least the gym part.

Currently, his Pikachu was his highest level pokemon, at 30, while his Ivysaur and Charmander followed at 26 and Squirtle at 6. 2 days had passed since the end of Yancy's first musical, and Ash had really stepped into his last minute training, levelling up all his pokemon a little and refining any new moves they had learnt.

Squirtle, though a pokemon well over starter level, was still a little young to battle, and Nurse Joy had also said that it would be better for both him and his Squirtle if the water type didn't start to battle for at least 2 weeks more, sure, training was fine, as long as it wasn't over exerting. So he was left with his Charmander, Ivysaur and Pikachu for this gym.

Considering the fact that Charmander was taught the move dig, courtesy of Brock and his Onix, he was going to be the ace up his sleeve and Ivysaur as the tanky opener. Pikachu, well, there was the problem. Pikachu was his strongest pokemon, but Lt. Surge was an electric type gym leader. He for sure knew that Lt. Surge would have a strategy against the pokemon same type as his. Or he won't be one of the toughest gym leaders for anything. But still, his heavy hitter was going to be Pikachu.

"Come on Ash, you have been pondering over your line up for the fast 2 hours, you need to get some rest." Apparently, it was his turn to be the one who would sleep on the top bed of the bunk bed, and Yancy was sleeping below him. Said pink haired girl was in her light blue themed pyjamas, with her Meowth sitting on her lap receiving a petting session. "You have trained a lot for this, I am sure you will do great."

He however, didn't reply, just kept on looking at the screen, particularly on Charmander. He still hadn't figured out why exactly was the usually orange and cream pokemon black, or why did he have blue flames. What he did know was those blue flames were not easy to control as they were very hot and overheated.

"Ash?" He looked slightly to the side to see Yancy peering up at him, concern clouding her eyes. "Something bothering you?"

He shook his head in denial and closed off his Pokedex, slipping it into the sliding port below. Trailing his hand through his hair, he sighed loudly and looked back at Yancy, who was still looking up at him.

"Are you sure?" He felt something jump up on his shoulder, looking over to see Pikachu hanging off him with its usual smile. "You don't look good okay."

"Just, wondering about something." Ash said, scratching Pikachu under his cheek. Pikachu cooed and jumped down upon his lap, prompting as to rub his back and head. "Aren't you suppose to be asleep?"

"Aren't you?" Yancy countered back. Noticing something different in the room, she asked out loud. "Hey, where's Brock?"

"He went outside when you were taking a shower, saying something about a small round." Smiling softly as Pikachu continued to roll around in pleasure as he petted him, Ash spoke, his usually emotionless red eyes showing slight tiredness. "As soon as he returns I can go to sleep, I am tired today, and tomorrow is going to be a big day."

"Yup!" Yancy had a big smile on her face. "Not only you have a gym badge, but we also have to get ready for the trip on !"

"You sound excited." Ash looked at her. A small pink tint overtook her cheeks. "Really excited."

"S Shut up." She huffed, and went back down onto her bed. "It's my first time near the sea, let alone on a ship."

"I haven't gone on a ship in a long time as well." Ash closed his eyes as he remembered the last time he went to a ship. "When I went on a cruise liner last time, I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, and it wasn't all that big, just a simple small cruise from pallet town to cinnabar and then back, as a sort of a vacation, and that ship wasn't all that impressive, just a ton of old dudes relaxing, or business class people taking a vacation. But it was still fun for 5 year old me. In fact, I am sure you will enjoy it."

"Hm!" Yancy excitedly agreed from below, both of them thinking about the upcoming journey on one of the worlds most amazing boats.

* * *

"So you are the kid that wants to challenge me huh?" The gym leader, Lt. Surge was a very tall man. With short but still spiky blonde hair and sunglasses on his face, he was quite an imposive figure on Ash and Yancy, while even Brock was sweating against him. "What can a baby like you do?"

"You will see it when I win the match." Ash replied back, somehow holding up his temper. He hated when people underestimated him. So what he was 10, he had 2 badges and 4 Pokemon, he wasn't a baby!

"I like your attitude boy, very well then, it's a battle!" The former lieutenant laughed, walking towards the other end of the field. "Is a 3 on 3 battle okay with you?"

"Yes." Ash replied from the other side. Yancy and Brock moved up to the bleachers, while the referee took his spot on the field.

"This will be a 3 on 3 match between Ash Ketchum from pallet town and Leader Lt. Surge from Vermilion city. Only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokemon in between rounds." The referee chanted out his usual words. "As per the normal rules, the challenger will have the first move. Trainers, please chose your Pokemon!"

"Let's go, Ivysaur!" Ash sent out his Ivysaur, the grass/poison type coming out with his cry.

"Voltorb, lt's spark em!" Lt. Surge sent out a Pokemon that looked like a Pokeball with eyes and without the button on it. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned it.

 _Voltorb. The identity of this Pokemon is un known and is usually mistaken for a pokeball, causing it to zap many people coming to close to it. The level of this Voltorb is 24._

'Deal able' Ash thought to himself looking at the Voltorb. 'The last gym I fought in had the highest level as 21, this guy has his weakest Pokemon at 24. Makes me shiver in fear yet shudder in excitement at the same time at the very thought of his strongest Pokemon.'

"Begin the battle!" The referee gave the signal by waving both the flags in opposite directions horizontally.

"Alright Ivysaur, use Poison Powder!" Immediately, from the middle of Ivysaur's flower, purple coloured powder shot forward towards Voltorb. Lt. Surge however, wasn't so keen on letting that happen.

"Voltorb, dodge it!" Voltorb floated way above the ground, too high up for the Poison powder to take effect. "Now use Sonic boom!"

Voltorb was enveloped by a white aura, that turned into a wave and travelled towards Ivysaur.

"Ivysaur, deflect it with Razor Leaf!" Ivysaur sent a barrage of leaves at the incoming waves of energy, creating a loud explosion in the middle. "Now use Poison powder again!"

"*sigh* Dodge it by going back near the ground." Lt. Surge sighed in annoyance, and commanded his Voltorb. He however completely missed Ash's smirk.

"Stun Spore, quick!" This time, Voltorb hadn't even reached the ground when yellow coloured powder had enveloped it. It cried in pain as the powder caused him to freeze, sparks running on his body. "Now use Vine Whip!"

"Grr, Shock Wave!" Lt. Surge growled, but the paralysis had kicked in, slowing down Voltorb greatly and causing it to freeze as the vines smacked him on the head and to the ground. "Damn it!"

"Alright Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf again!" Ash was using the Paralysis for all it's worth. He knew that if Voltorb managed to land a hit, he would be having trouble, and there was no way he was losing Ivysaur. "And continue on sending them to him!"

"Voltorb, use thundershock!" Voltorb managed to shoot a bolt of lightning towards Ivysaur, which didn't even flinch from the electric type move, the damage having halved due to the type effectiveness. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Finish it Ivysaur! Use Tackle!" Ivysaur started to run for a very weak looking Voltorb. Sadly for Ash, Lt. Surge wasn't going to give in so easily. As soon as Voltorb got in range, Lt. Surge struck in.

"Voltorb! Use Self Sestruct!" Lt. Surge cried out. Ash widened his eyes, but before he could warn Ivysaur, Voltorb had already exploded, knocking both itself and Ivysaur out.

"Both Voltorb and Ivysaur cannot battle! The first round ends as a tie!" The referee called out, raising both of his flags.

Ash grit his teeth as he called back Ivysaur and thanked it. How could he have missed that?!

* * *

"Hey! That's not fair!" Yancy shouted. "Ivysaur had the battle!"

"It wasn't Lt. Surges mistake." Brock said apathetically. "Even though I also admit that it was a dirty tactic, it was Ash's mistake here. Even though many trainers won't look like they know it, it is common knowledge that Voltorb are known for their self destruction. Ash realises his mistake."

As Yancy looked at Ash, he looked ready to beat himself. She pouted.

"But it still isn't fair." She said, and looked back down at Ash. "Now it isn't going to be easy for Ash."

"Ash has a very good hand in the game." Brock said. "In fact, it is not depending on what your hand is, it depends on how you play your cards. Ash has 2 strong pokemon with him, sure, Pikachu is the same type as Lt. Surge's speciality, he is still Ash's strongest pokemon, and Charmander isn't a slouch either. It now all depends on what Ash does, but I believe whatever decision he makes, it is going to be a good one."

"Yeah." Yancy agreed with him, looking back down on the field. "Ash has to win this."

* * *

Ash opened his eyes after closing them to think for a while, and picked up a pokeball from his belt.

"Alright Charmander, it's time for battle!" Charmander appeared on the field with a roar of it's own. Lt. Surge raised an eyebrow at the weird colour, but didn't comment on it.

"Pikachu, let's go." Ash's Pikachu twitched as it saw another one of its same species.

"Begin!" Once again, Ash got the first turn.

"Charmander, use Ember!" Blue coloured embers shot out of Charmander's mouth towards Lt. Surge's Pikachu.

"Dodge it! Then jump in the air and use Slam!" Pikachu jumped as high as he could to dodge the blue flames coming at him, and came into a position through which he could slam his tail upon charmander.

"Charmander! Counter it with Mega Punch!" Charmander's fist started to glow and he punched the incoming tail, static flying all around as the 2 attacks collided. "Slash!"

"Get out of there using Quick Attack!" Lt. Surge was quick to counter. "And then attack him!"

Charmander tried to slash Pikachu with elongated claws, but Pikachu was extremely fast to get away from the incoming attack, and then, he rushed in again, slamming into charmander.

"Char!" Charmander cried out in pain as he was slammed backwards, colliding with the ground once, then bouncing. But he still got up. "Charmander Char!"

"You okay?" Charmander nodded in determination. "Good, don't give up. Charmander, use SmokeScreen!"

"Charmander!" Charmander took a deep breath and blew out a lot of smoke from his mouth, a lot of it, covering the entire area in thick smoke.

"Pika?!" Lt. Surge's Pikachu started to panic as the smoke set in, hiding Charmander from view. Lt. Surge narrowed his eyes.

"Charmander, go, use Slash!" Charmander knew where Pikachu was as he had managed to lock his location in his mind before using smokescreen. Pikachu suddenly cried out in pain as it was slashed with sharp claws. "Keep on using Slash!"

"Not so fast!" Lt. Surge shouted. "Pikachu, use Dig!"

* * *

"Well, here comes the kicker." Brock said, his frown deepening. "This is what Ash prepared for."

"Huh?" Yancy moved her eyes away from battle and looked at the older teen. "What do you mean?"

"Dig is a ground type move, and ground types are super effective against both fire and electric. Ash knew Pikachu could also learn dig, but Pikachu's moveset and physical stats aren't fit for moves such as dig." Brock explained to Yancy. Both of them noticed Ash calming himself down. "And Ash knew that if Lt. Surge had a Pikachu, he was going to teach it dig, it was something that came as an intuition to him because he wanted to teach Pikachu dig himself, but he chose charmander because as of now, Charmander cannot learn any moves that are electric type that can go against water type moves. And the second thing that came to him was this particular scenario. When smokescreen is in effect, you can't see what's going on and it gets difficult to concentrate because you are breathing very scantily. That means, Charmander can't sense the vibrations in the ground to dodge dig."

"So you are telling me that moves like Dig cannot be seen?" Suddenly realisation hit Yancy. "Wait, that means, if that move hits..."

"Yes, Charmander will be in trouble." Brock completed it. "And Ash knows this was going to be a problem."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright Charmander, you use Dig as well!" Ash commanded. He heard the sound of something burrowing, and smirked. All was according to plan. "Now find Pikachu!"

"I can use that tactic as well!" Lt. Surge said. "However, it will be great if I let you do it! Pikachu, use come out of there and use thunderbolt inside the hole!"

You see, the Ash in smokescreen(No puns intended) was a by-product of flames. Ash contains many qualities, being flammable and extremely volatile at times is one of them. When in contact with electricity, the Ash starts to react and burn, and not with normal flames, but very hot flames. These flames would then explode because of being contained inside the hole. This all was only possible because of the smoke escaping into the holes Charmander and Pikachu made while digging.

"Oh no, Charmander, Get out of there, NOW!" Ash, for the first time, shouted in panic. If this worked, Charmander could be badly injured. "Go!"

"PIKACHU!" Lt. Surge's Pikachu unleashed an extremely strong bolt of electricity inside the 3 holes on the field.

*BOOM!"*

A large explosion shook the entire field as many rocks flew up from the ground due to the force of the explosion.

"CHARMANDER!" Ash shouted in pure horror. Not even a sound came out, not even one. The silence only further sent a chill down his spine. Before he could think of the worst, it happened.

From between the rocks, a glow started to appear, which then burst out from the ground landing I front of Ash. The glow was in the shape of a lizard, a larger one, just like Charmander, but with an elongated skull and much more developed body. When the glow died down, a Charmeleon was standing in front of him.

"Char!" The Charmeleon smirked at him with one claw up as a thumbs up. Ash's horror sturck face suddenly turned into one of extreme relief.

 _Charmeleon, the flame pokemon. This pokemon is the evolved form of Charmander. It defeats it's pokemon by knocking them down with it's tail and then using it's razor sharp claws._

 _Congratulations, your Charmander has evolved into a Charmeleon. Upon evolution it has learned the move Dragon Rage and Metal Claw._

Slowly, Ash's face turned into a smirk that looked similar to the one's on Charmeleon's.

"Glad to see you are alright buddy." Ash said with a very relieved tone and a wide grin. Charmeleon nodded back, and focused back on the battle as the smoke cleared up. Ash's eyes then turned cold as he glared at Lt. Surge. This man had tried to kill his pokemon. He wasn't getting out of this easily. "Let's start with Ember!"

This time, the ember was much more powerful and bigger, and much more effective as it impacted straight onto Pikachu, making it cry out in pain.

"Grr." Lt. Surge could only watch again as a 10 year old was making him go on his limits. "Pikachu, don't just take it, attack back with Thunderbolt!"

"Charmeleon, dodge!" Charmeleon jumped to the side to dodge it, and awaited his next order. "Now, use Metal Claw!"

Carmeleon's claws were glowing with a bright metallic shine this time, much brighter than in slash. Without waiting a moment, Charmeleon jumped onto Pikachu, slashing him again and again until Pikachu was at a very weak state.

"Finish it Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!" A bluish purple coloured aura enveloped Charmeleon. Then, he spit out a glob of bluish purple energy in the form of a bullet at Pikachu that exploded upon impact, straight on the face, sending the small rodent way behind the wall where Lt. Surge was standing, knocking it out instantly.

"Pikachu cannot battle; the winner of this round is Charmeleon." The refree declared after looking at Pikachu's swirly eyed state. The green flag was raised towards Ash.

"Return Pikachu." Lt. Surge called back his pokemon, than looked towards Ash with a big grin. "I will give you the credits boy, you aren't a baby for sure. Let's see how you do against my strongest. Go, Raichu!"

The pokemon that came out of the pokeball was an orangecoloured rodent, like a bigger version of a Pikachu with orangeish skin and a white shade in the middle. He had pointed ears, a long tail pointed at the hand and was much bigger than Pikachu. This was Pikachu's evolved form, Raichu.

 _Raichu, the evolved form of Pikachu. Raichu's body is flowing with electricity making it glow in the dark. It uses it's tail to discharge electricity in the ground. This Raichu is on level 30._

'Damn, this guy is going to be tougher then I expected.' Ash thought while pinching his inner cheek with his teeth. 'And Charmeleon also doesn't look good.'

Indeed, even though ready for battle, Charmeleon was breathing extremely hard and had dirt and grime all over it and the glow in his tail wasn't all that bright as it was supposed to be. He looked down to see Pikachu.

"Pikachu." Pikachu looked up, his eyes shining in determination. "You up for it?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded with an excited grin. Ash looked up at Charmeleon and raised his pokeball.

"Charmeleon, come back and take a rest." Charmeleon grunted once as he was sucked back into his pokeball. "Pikachu, let's go!"

* * *

"Why Pikachu?!" Yancy shouted, eyes wide. "Is he serious right now? He can win this with Charmeleon!"

Brock however didn't answer, he just looked at Ash.

'Ash, what are you thinking?' He was baffled by this. Ash had wanted to keep Pikachu out of it as much as he could, but why did he send Pikachu out now? He could have weakened Raichu with his Charmeleon and then could have sent Pikachu to finish it off. As if sensing his thoughts, Ash looked up, and smirked slightly, before turning back to the battle. 'Huh?'

"I I don't know?" Brock answered, clearly surprised by the hidden message. "But he seems to have something up his sleeve."

"Yeah, I sure hope so." Yancy was counting on Ash to win, she liked seeing him win. For some reason it brought up a strange feeling in her chest that she liked.

* * *

"A Pikachu? I don't know how your mind works kid, considering I have the evolved version here." Both Ash and Pikachu twitched at that and promised to beat this guy's butt. "Looks like I have the first turn this time."

"Begin!" As soon as the refree said that, Raichu and Lt. Surge struck.

"Raichu, Mega Punch!" Raichu ran ahead with an incredible speed, it's hand glowing.

"Pikachu dodge it!" Both Ash's and Pikachu's eyes widened after looking at the damage done by Raichu's punch striking the ground. There were cracks in it.

'Holy Shit!' Ash thought with the language a 10 year old shouldn't know. 'That Raichu's friggin strong! I really need to make sure Pikachu isn't hit by that!'

"Don't stop! Use take down!" Raichu turned towards Pikachu, and started to run towards him.

"Pikachu, Jump up in the air and use Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped and dodged the incoming Take Down. His tail took on a metallic sheen and he slammed it onto Raichu's middle, causing it to buckle in pain. "Again!"

This time, he slammed the Raichu in the front, sending him flying back towards where he had come from.

"Great! Now use Brick Break!" He needed to get that static in, as soon as he could. Once again Pikachu rushed ahead with great speeds, ready to chop down onto Raichu.

"Catch it!"

However, much to their shock, Raichu caught the Brick break with one hand.

"Now, throw him back and use Body Slam!" Raichu threw Pikachu back by a few feet and jumped onto it's first stage.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried in pain as it was assaulted by the Raichu.

"Pikachu! Try and get out of there using quick attack!" Ash shouted in desperation, however, Raichu was too quick.

"Not so fast! Raichu, Mega Kick!" This time, Pikachu had no choice since he was trapped. As soon as he got up, a glowing foot was smashed onto his face courtesy of Raichu. Pikachu managed to get up somehow on weak legs.

"Pi...ka..pi...Ka!" Pikachu grunted in pain having felt the 2 extremely hurting attacks full on.

"I am sorry Ash, but you Pikachu cannot beat my Raichu. Finish it using thunder bolt!" That is when Ash and Pikachu smirked. They didn't make even an effort to dodge it, simply allowing the extremely powerful thunderbolt to strike on Pikachu.

Everyone looked on in shock as both trainer and pokemon didn't do anything to block the hurtful attack.

"Huh, are you too scared to move?" Lt. Surge said with a mocking grin. "What happened to the previous bravado?"

"My bravado has gone nowhere." Ash answered, smirking at Lt. Surge which confused the hell out of him. Suddenly, his eyes widened as sparks not belonging to Raichu's thunderbolt appeared on the dust that had gathered by the Thynderbolt stricking Pikachu. "In fact, I want to thank you for that, and for underestimating my Pikachu as well."

As soon as the dust cleared, Pikachu had a grin on his own face, electric power radiating off his body covering him in a pale gold aura as sparks flew around everywhere.

"WHAT?!" Lt. Surge shouted out in pure disbelief.

"You see, my Pikachu has the ability static, sure, but he also has a second ability." Ash's face set back into the emotionless look he always had. "And that is lightningrod."

"So that means..." Realisation once again did his job as suddenly Lt. Surge started to dread the outcome. "Unbelieveable!"

* * *

"So wait a second!" Yancy got up and pointed at Ash. "Does that mean Ash's ace wasn't Charmander all along?!"

Sbe was confused and horrified when Ash did nothing but smirk as the Thunderbolt struck down on Pikachu, and even more so surprised when Pikachu came out unscathed.

"So that was his plan!" Brock grinned. "Sure, Charmander was his ace for this battle, and the evolution was completely unexpected. But his back up was Pikachu!"

"So it means that this lightning rod ability of Pikachu's absorbed the lightning attack?" Yancy asked with wide eyes as suddenly a wide smile took over her face. "That means Ash can win this!"

"Not only that." Brock shook his head. "You see, this changes a lot of things. Usually, when lightning rod takes effect, it can absorb any and all form of lightning. It also matters in the future because Ash can send out his Pikachu whenever he wants to against any electric type pokemon and their electric moves will be uneffective. And lightning rod doesn't just absorb electricity, it increases the Attack and Special Attack of Pikachu the same amount as the intensity of the move it absorbed. And in this case, its a lot!"

* * *

"Time to shut this guy's mouth Pikachu! Use Quick Tail!" Quick tail was a simple mix between Iron Tail and Quick attack, which now boosted by the lightning rods effect dealt massive damage to Raichu. "Now use Brick Break!"

Once again Raichu saw the stars as Pikachu slammed a chop atop his head, making it very dizzy and unable to move.

"Now return the favour! Thunderbolt!" Ash said with a swipe of his hand.

"Pi... Ka... CHUUUUUU!" Pikachu released a massive torrent of electricity on Raichu, who was unable to do anything against 'super Pikachu's' Thunderbolt, simply accepting defeat as it fainted.

"Raichu cannot battle, the winner of this round is Pikachu. Since Gym Leader Lt. Surge is out of pokemon, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum!" The refree declared the end of the match bu swiping the flags vertically downwards. Ash sighed.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu however had different ideas as he jumped into Ash's arms. Ash laughed as he hugged Pikachu back. Lt. Surge called back Raichu and sighed in defeat, but there was still a grin on his face.

"ASH!" Once again Ash was tackled to the ground, this time by a very excited Yancy. "You were so amazing out there!"

"Ouch Yancy, let me up!" Ash complained as the girl squeezed him tight. Finally after 2 minutes, he was able to get up.

"Good work Ash, you had me scared for a minute." Brock patted his shoulder with a smile, which Ash returned. Finally, he turned towards Lt. Surge.

"You sure outzapped me kid." The military man said, rummaging through his pocket and removing a badge out. "Here, take this, you earned it, it's the Thunder Badge."

"Thank you." Ash accepted the badge and looked at it with a wide smile. It had the shape of the sun, with a dark orange octagonal middle and golden pointed 'rays'.

"As for your next move, I would suggest you head over to Celadon city. A word of advice, even though she is a grass type trainer, she's not a person to take lightly." Lt. Surge said. "I will be counting on you to go far in the league kid. Come over whenever ya want a re-match."

* * *

" _So now you have 3 badges._ " Delia said to her son with a smile on her face. " _That is good Red, amazingly good for someone who started a month ago._ "

"..." Ash was blushing slightly as he was called by his nickname in front of everyone. Sure, it wasn't all that bad, but it didn't mean he liked it when she said it in front of his friends. "Are you well?"

" _Of course, why would you think I am not?"_ The smile on Delia's face then turned into a frown. " _But I do miss you. It is hard to cope with an empty house when I had you running around for 10 years_."

"Yeah, I miss you too." Ash replied.

" _Good, at least I can safely assure myself you haven't forgotten about me._ " Delia said with a relieved smile. " _What about you, Yancy? Is Ash treating you well?_ "

"Y Yes." Yancy had a blush on her face. She was surprised by the care this woman showed to her, even if she was a complete stranger. "H he is a great teacher."

" _Good. I saw your performance the other day, and I must say I am impressed._ " Delia said. " _You did great, I am sure you will win your next musical. I will be doting on both of you. Brock, I trust you will take care of both of them. Hope to talk to you kids soon again._ "

"Good bye." The three said at the same time as the phone switched off. Ash sighed.

"Your mother is really the kindest woman I have ever met." Brock said to Ash. "I can't believe she wasn't worried over you like the other mothers over their children."

"She is one of a kind, that's what I can say." Ash said, getting up. "So what's our plan for today?"

"Hmm, the boarding starts tomorrow morning, so we don't have to worry about that just yet." Brock said. "And we need quite a few of supplies as well for our trip forward. Let's go to the store for now then we will see what to do for tonight."

"So first is shopping, then we can do anything we want to?" Ash inquired. Brock nodded, and then both of them looked to Yancy. "What about you? Do you have something in mind?"

"Isn't there a cave known as diglett cave here?" Yancy asked. "Can't we go there and find out more about it? It sounds interesting."

"Well, that certainly is a good idea." Brock mused. "And it will be a great pass of our time as well. Not to mention the pokemon we can catch."

"So Shopping and Diglett cave. Let's go." Ash got up and towards the Nurse where he had given his pokemon for healing.

* * *

As fun as it sounded, Diglett Cave wasn't fun at all. It was just a simple cave that went all the way till the outskirts of pewter city, nothing else, and Ash had no need of a Diglett or a Dugtrio in his team for he didn't think it would suit him.

Yancy was afraid of the Diglett for some reason and Brock was also freaked out because none of them knew what was inside Diglett. It was one of the most unusual Pokemon around.

So here they were, the next day, standing in front of what appeared to be the greatest ship on the planet.

"W Whoa!" Yancy exclaimed in awe. The ship of was huge, extremely huge, at least 2 football fields long. (I have no idea if that's a little too big or not but I know cruise liners are huge.) "That's huuuuuuuuuge!"

"That is, by far, the largest ship I have ever seen in my life." Ash's eyes were wide. "I have never seen a ship so big, and I live in pallet!"

"According to this, from one end to the other, this ship is atleast 200 meters." Brock said, whistling. "And is 75 meters in width."

"Don't say anything else. We will find out once we board in." The childlike excitement was now seeping out of Ash as he excitedly stood ready for the gates to open. "You have all your tickets?"

"Yes." Brock and Yancy nodded. "Let's go!"

As impressive it was from the outside, it was even better in the inside. Grand carpeted halls, large walking space, huge elevators, it had everything in it as seen in the TV. They had gotten the room on the other side of the dock, facing the sea, a single suite room in which the 3 could sleep in easily, and what a room it was.

As they entered the room, they were introduced to the sight of a large main room/living room/hall, with one acting a divider between the 2 rooms. On the wall was one large flat screen TV, a small cupboard below it. On the opposite wall was a large couch enough to fit 6 people and 2 recliner chairs. The entire living room had a blue coloured tint to it. Behind the divider wall was the bedroom, where there were 2 double beds and a door leading to the cabin outside alone with a door leading to the bathroom. Till now, this was the most grandiose room they had ever seen.

"I knew this was going to be amazing." Brock was the only one who had regained the ability to speak. "But I have to say, this is freaking fantabulous."

Both Ash and Yancy had their mouths wide open in awe as their 10 year old minds tried to accustom to the room they were going to spend their night in. Even Pikachu who was on Ash's shoulder had his jaw open.

*Beep**Beep*

Their awe induced silence was broken by the beeping of Ash's Pokegear. Snapping out of his daze, Ash picked up the call.

"Hello." His voice still held the awe to it as he was rapidly coming back to his senses. "Who's this?"

" _Good morning Ash. It's me, William._ " The voice of the headmaster replied with a jovial tone to it. Immediately, Ash snapped back into his emotionless mode. " _Are you on the boat?_ "

"Yes." He replied, sending a thankful gaze at Brock and Yancy who went inside to give Ash more privacy to talk. "I and my friends are on the boat. We just reached our room."

" _Good, for one moment I would have thought you forgot about it._ " The man spoke back. " _I am also on the boat, as you can probably tell by now. But enough of that. If possible, can you come over to speak to me today, Ash Ketchum?"_

"Yes, just name where I have to come." Ash sad said, turning to see the panel behind the door where the entire ship's layout was hung.

" _During Lunchtime, on the main deck._ " William said back after a moment of silence. " _Do you know where that is?_ "

"Yes sir, I have got the layout in front of me. I will be present." Ash replied back. "Can I bring my friends?"

" _Of course, I want to speak with the girl who defeated my prized student as well._ " William said. " _After all, I won't get a better chance than this. It's a great day and a great ship, what could ruin this?_ "

Ash didn't know why, but he felt that those words had jinxed them somehow.

* * *

"Welcome, Ash Ketchum and his friends." William Grant was a middle aged man, probably in his early 50's. He had that classic salt and pepper style hair, with more black than white, and a similar coloured moustache. His blue eyes didn't go against the smile on his face, soft blue coloured orbs reflecting the excitement of a man that should be present in the eyes of a person 20 to 30 years younger than he was. He was wearing a white coloured shirt over black coloured casual pants and a brown coloured blazer, with a rose on his front pocket. There was also a cane beside him.

Standing beside him was a young girl, probably 4-5 years of age, with similar blue eyes and brown hair. She was wearing a green coloured sundress and a straw hat with a green ribbon attached to it. She looked curious and confused.

"It's good to meet you, Mr. William." Ash bowed, remembering every single lesson taught to him by his mother. Brock and Yancy stood nervously behind him, Yancy being close to sweating while Brock still holding up his facade. "I am Ash Ketchum, as you know. These here are my friend Brock Slate and Yancy Orchid."

"G Good to meet you." Yancy stuttered out while Brock nodded at the old headmaster. The man smiled and sat down prompting the others to sit down as well.

"Oh, also, this here is my granddaughter, Hilda." The professor introduced the little girl who flashed a bright smile to them. "She was quite excited to meet a pokemon trainer who had 2 badges and a gym leader."

The girl blushed and pouted at her grandfather, causing the man to chuckle slightly and the group to crack a smile.

"Now, the only reason I called you here isn't just to talk as you know." The fun loving attitude around William shifted to one of a headmaster of the school. "My main reason to meet you was to find out why did you not like our school and what exactly happened to cause you to storm out of the school like that."

"I figured it would be on that topic." Ash muttered under his breath. "Well you see, at the time when the headmaster was Mr. Jose, he was hell bent on having all students learn through the older methods of the 8 original pokemon energies and the colourless energy, while he neglected the newer rule of the 16 pokemon types and the rumoured 17th type and the 9th and 10th energies as well. I asked him why did we ignore that, he didn't answer. Also, according to normal rules, you can use as many moves you want in battle, but he limited it to only 4. I also didn't like that he never let us battle with actual pokemon, and only with simulations. And due to the fact that he had any pokemon the students had received when they entered the school forcefully released, I made up my mind and left the school for I cannot stay in a place which is run by a man who disrespects pokemon and refuses to listen to suggestions."

This was the longest any of them had heard Ash speak. Brock, Yancy and even Pikachu were looking at him strangely. No one had ever heard him speak so much, never. The headmaster frowned.

"I see." The man muttered to himself. "So that's why..."

"Grandpa?" Hilda was looking up at the man with her eyes covered in worry. "Is something wrong, you haven't spoken for the past few minutes."

The man snapped out of his silent state and looked to see all the 3 trainers sitting in front of him looking at him in slight concern. He coughed once and smiled again.

"Thank you for telling me that, Ash, I think it opened my eyes a lot about what was going on." William nodded. "I know that you didn't like the textbook style of teaching when I spoke to Gisselle, but your words do have merit in them and will help me turn the academy in a much better one. Now, moving over to you, Miss Yancy."

"M me?" Yancy suddenly started to fiddle with her fingers as everyone looked at her. "B but, I haven't done anything."

"Of course you haven't." William laughed. "I want you to tell me if you find something lacking in our school's education from what you have read or have heard."

"Umm, well, i..." Yancy blushed slightly under everyone's gaze. "I sort of agree with Ash. I mean, I think if you want to learn how to handle pokemon, you need to let go of computers and do it the real way. And also, most of your students need an attitude fix."

"Yes, that is something I agree with as well." William nodded, his eyes darkening over. "But I can't do anything about that because they are spoiled sick by their parents. I see, so those are your thoughts, and what about you, Mr. Slate?"

"What Ash and Yancy say is what is the first priority. Along with that, the need to respect pokemon and each other is what will help them a lot." Brock said, a lot more better placed then the 2 kids. "For I am sure many gym leaders, particularly the more veteran ones like Blaine and Sabrina won't take kindly to being insulted or said that someone is stronger than them because they have the significant simulator score."

"Hmm, respect, attitude adjustment and also a more practical approach." One could see the gears running in the man's mind. "Very well, I shall try my best to find a way to make all that possible. As a token of gratitude and apology for the behalf of myself and the whole school for the treatment you received when you were there, and also for the incidents that happened with you, Mr. Ketchum, I want you to accept this."

The man removed a case from below and 2 smaller bags. The bags had 2 stones in it, one was a grey coloured rock, while the other was an orange coloured one with a flame in it.

The case contained an egg, a brown coloured Pokemon egg with white stripes running over it.

"I is that a Pokemon egg?" Ash asked in surprise, pointing at the incubator. William nodded.

"A good friend of mine, the day care man in cerulean city gave that to me and told me to give it to a trainer whom I believe had the qualities to raise the pokemon that hatches from it to its greatest potential. And the stones, well, I found them when I was young and had them rusting in my desk." The man smiled. "I want you to have the egg, Mr. Ketchum, while your friends can have the stones."

"B but that's just too much." Brock spoke. An evolutionary stone was not only rare, but extremely expensive and to accept one wasn't exactly fitting in Brock's mind, especially because he hadn't done anything. "I am sure you might have some use for it."

"If I had, would I have given it to you?" William asked, raising his hand and ruffling his Granddaughter's head. "Besides, even if Hilda wants to be a trainer in the future, this is too early for her. So please, accept it. I am sure it will come in handy."

"Alright." Ash said, accepting the egg. "I promise I will make sure nothing happens to the pokemon that hatches out of it and it becomes the strongest of it's kind."

"Good, that is all I ask." William said. The rest of their time was spent in normal talk over dinner, none of them ever noticing the weird people that were sneakingly climbing on the ship, people in black with red coloured 'R' on them.

The trip wasn't as sunny looking as it seemed.

* * *

"Well well well." Ash groaned when he heard that sound. Turning around, he came face to face with his rival/frenemy, Gary. "If it isn't Devil Eyes."

Both Brock and Yancy, looked on in confusion, Yancy in slight apprehension, at the boy that had come to greet Ash.

"Hello to you too, Gary." Ash sighed. He really didn't like meeting Gary mainly because of his holier than thou attitude, and cockiness. "I can see you are as arrogant as ever."

"That's what I also said to him." Leaf came out of a corner, flashing Ash a smile. "Hey Ash, been a while."

"Looks like all 4 of us are here now." Boris came out of somewhere. "It's like-."

"Save us your jokes, Bore." Gary snorted, but still continued to smirk. "So, it seems you have made some friends?"

"... Your point being?" Ash blankly looked at him. "I am pretty sure I have more friends than you because of your friendship with everyone favourite enemy."

" I get it!" Boris laughed. The others sweatdropped. Seriously, this guy?

"Uhh, who are these people Ash?" Yancy stepped up. She really wanted to know who were these people, because everyone, except the brown haired purple t-shirt wearing boy who had a crappy attitude, looked as if they could be good friends. "Are they your old friends."

"Yes." Ash nodded. "That's Leaf Green, she's my neighbour, that's Boris, a resident from Pallet and a friend, and that's Gary oak, he's the grandson of Professor oak, and the world's biggest douche bag. Aforementioned people and Douche bag, I want you to meet my friends, Yancy Orchid and Brock Slate. They are travelling with me."

"I am surprised you managed to make friends." Gary snorted, managing to control his temper at being called douche bag, twice. "I always thought everyone would be scared and call you a freak because of your eyes."

"And I am sure people will avoid you like plaque because of your cockiness that can me felt from miles away." Unexpectedly, it was Yancy that said that. She blushed when she realised what she did.

Complete silence ensured. Suddenly, a wheeze broke through, before 3 laughs emmited from Ash, Leaf and Boris.

"Oh my god!" Boris fell down to his knees. "Your face, your face!"

Gary looked as if he was constipated, and had been punched in the gut at the same time.

"Again, Gary." Ash managed to speak between laughs. "You got insulted by a girl, again."

"You and I are going to get along so well, Yancy." Leaf laughed, putting an arm around Yancy. "I said the same thing when he used to tease Ash when we were young."

"A anyways." Gary coughed, and smirked again. (The smirking was freaking Ash out). "I didn't come to talk. I challenge you to a battle, this time I am much more stronger!"

"A challenge?" Ash stopped laughing and went back to his emotionless look. "When and where?"

"Right now." Gary said, pointing to one of the many battle fields on the ship, many of them already occupied. "I have already booked one for us."

"Then let's get to it." Without even waiting for anyone, the 2 boys went to the field. Yancy and Leaf sighed, while Boris and Brock shook their heads.

"Even in a boat they have to battle." Leaf pouted out. She wanted to enjoy this trip, not get involved in one of those 2's banters again. But she had an excited smile on her face. "I was hoping that I would get to battle him later on, but Gary beat me to it."

"Umm, I think we should move." Yancy told Leaf, pointing at the field which was already getting crowded. "Or we won't get a place."

With Ash and Gary, the 2 stood in front of each other, a refree walked in from somewhere.

"This will be a 3 on 3 match between Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum of Pallet town. No pokemon switching will be allowed in the middle of battle except at the end of a round. Gary will get the first move." The refree said, raising the green flag towards Gary. "Trainers, please send out your Pokemon!"

"Alright, let's go, Raticate!" Gary sent out his pokemon, a brown coloured furry mouse like pokemon with large fangs.

 _Raticate, the mouse Pokemon. It's fangs grow steadily and to keep them ground down, Raticate often gnaws on logs, rocks and even the walls of buildings. This Raticate is on level 24._

"Charmeleon." Ash sent out his trusty charmeleon. Everyone gasped when they saw the differently coloured pokemon. "Let's roll."

"Charmeleon vs Raticate, begin!" The refree indicated the start of the match.

"Alright Raticate, use bite!" Raticate started to glow suddenly as an astral mouth appeared around Charmeleon, ready to chomp down upon him.

"Charmeleon, dodge, then use ember!" Charmeleon rolled out of the way before he could be bit by the bite attack, and let loose a torrent of blue coloured embers on Raticate.

"Dodge it!" Gary wasn't one who was going to go down so easily. "Now Quick Attack!"

"Counter it with Mega Punch!" The super fast raticate that was headed towards Charmeleon with a collision course locked onto the fire type's stomach with it's head met Charmeleon's glowing fist, both the attacks meeting head on. "Now Metal Claw!"

Charmeleon's claws of his other hand that was free enlarged and gained a metallic sheen as they slashed Raticate.

"Rati!" Raticate cried out in pain as it was slashed. It snarled at Charmeleon afterwards. "Cate!"

"Don't give up Raticate, use Crunch!" This time, a much bigger mouth appeared around Charmeleon, and it was faster as well as it chomped down on him, hard, twice.

"Char!" Charmeleon grunted, but stood still, glaring back at the mouse. "Charmeleon!"

"Great, Charmeleon, use Slash!" Ash called out to his Charmeleon after he had regained it's bearings. Charmeleon's claws grew bigger and it jumped towards Raticate.

"Raticate, Dodge, and then use Hyper fang!" Raticate jumped out of the way, and pounced upon Charmeleon, it's mouth glowing as it was about to chomp down on the opposing fire type.

"I don't think so! Charmeleon, grab Raticate and throw it on the ground!" Charmeleon grabbed the smaller pokemon and threw it down, the mouse crying out as it looked up at the imposing fire type straight in the eye. "Now finish it with Dragon Rage!"

"Char...!" Charmeleon was engulfed in bluish purple coloured energy. Then he released the aura from his mouth on Raticate in the form of a shockwave. "Meleon!"

*Boom*

A lot of dust kicked up from the artificial field as the Dragon Rage made a direct hit. Raticate was knocked out.

"Raticate cannot battle, the winner is Charmeleon!" The referee said, raising his flag towards Ash, who smirked. Gary grumbled under his breath and recalled Raticate.

* * *

"Man, that Charmeleon's one tough pokemon." Boris, who was more interested since he didn't know Ash had a Charmeleon that also a black coloured one, said. "I didn't know he had a charmander."

"He has all 3 kanto starters." Brock said, eyes never leaving the field. "An Ivysaur, a squirtle and a Charmeleon. Squirtle cannot battle right now because it is too young, or at least till the next 1 and a half week. But Ash said he will be keeping him out of his pokeball when he battles to show him what a true battle would be like."

Indeed, his squirtle was sitting beside Yancy along with Meowth, both of them cheering Ash on. Squirtle especially had starry eyes because he knew he would be battling like this soon. Ash's egg was inside it's incubator on Yancy's lap as she had volunteered to keep a watch on it.

"Man, he's as good as ever." Leaf whispered as she saw Ash winning against Raticate. "I sort of don't want to fight him especially with that Charmeleon of his. It looks scary."

"Charmeleon's a sweetheart." Yancy said, a firm grasp on the incubator in her hand. "He won't hurt anyone, if you don't hurt Ash that is."

"Yeah, I really hope I don't make a mistake of doing that." Leaf said, gulping at the thought of facing Charmeleon like that.

* * *

"Alright Pidgeotto, let's go!" Gary called out his bird type pokemon. Pidgeotto was a raptor like bird like pokemon with brown feathers, a cream underside and a pinkish red crest.

 _Pidgeotto, the bird pokemon. Pidgeotto is the evolution of Pidgey. It claims a large area as it's own terrirtory and flies around patrolling it's living space. This Pidgeotto is on level 26._

"Charmeleon, you up for it?" Ash asked his Charmeleon, who flashed a thumbs up back at him, claws up in fact. "Alright!"

"Pidgeotto vs Charmeleon, begin!" The referee announced the start of the second round.

"Pidgeotto, use gust!" Pidgeotto flapped his wings, creating a large gust of air headed towards Charmeleon, who grunted but stood through the attack. "Now Twister!"

The gust this time was much more powerful and filled with draconic energy. Ash wasn't going to let that attack do it's damage so easily.

"Charmeleon, use dig to dodge it!" Charmeleon dug underground to dodge the incoming twister, and remained underground. Gary smirked.

"Someone's forgetting that Ground type moves are uneffective against flying types." Pidgeotto cawed once as it took to the skies, circling around. Ash also smirked.

"Whoever said I was using dig to attack?" Charmeleon burst out of the ground into the air. "And you being in the air gives me enough time to charge up my Dragon Rage."

The Bluish Purple Aura around Charmeleon that was seen usually when he used Dragon rage appeared. It continued to increase in terms of power as Pidgeotto circled above.

"Don't be scared, knock him out before he can unleash it! Use Quick Attack!" Ash momentarily took a pause to look at Gary blankly. Hadn't he seen what Dragon Rage could do? What the hell was wrong with him? Pidgeotto moved in as fast as he could, and smacked Charmeleon on the stomach. Bad move.

"Use it!" Ash shouted. Charmeleon unleashed the dragon rage at such a close range, causing both of them to be caught in the attack.

"Pidgeo!" Pidgeotto cried as it was smashed to the ground, while Charmeleon was knocked out. Looked like Pidgeotto won this round, but wasn't out of it yet.

"Charmeleon cannot battle, the winner is Pidgeotto!" Gary smirked in victory. Finally, he managed to knock one of his pokemon out! Ash recalled the downed fire type.

"Good work Charmeleon." Ash said to his pokemon, looking up with at Gary. "Pikachu."

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and onto the field, cheeks sparking in anticipation. Gary narrowed his eyes.

The last time the 2 fought, Pikachu had destroyed his team completely. This time, that wasn't going to happen.

"Pikachu vs Pidgeotto, begin!" The refree said.

"Pikachu, Quick Tail!" Ash wanted to finish this off as fast as he could because Pidgeotto was in a weak state and because he didn't want to be on the receiving end of twister.

"Pika!" Pikachu disappeared in a burst of speed in a blur and reappeared behind Pidgeotto in the sky, tail already shining in metallic energy. "Chu!"

Pidgeotto went crashing into the ground, getting knocked out immediately. Gary, the refree and everyone that wasn't Yancy and Brock looked in shock at the outcome.

"P Pidgeotto cannot battle." The refree said after regaining his posture. "Pikachu wins."

* * *

"For the love of..." Boris looked ready to faint. "He knocked Pidgeotto out in one move!"

"I take my challenge back." Leaf whimpered. She was good, but not _that_ good. "I don't want to face Pikachu in battle."

"Pikachu is Ash's strongest." Yancy said, smiling slightly. "And the cutest pokemon he has. Their bond is better than anyone has with their pokemon. I have been travelling with him for almost a month and I have never seen Pikachu lose or get knocked out."

"And also, Pikachu and Ash understand each other the most." Brock added. "And because of that, they are by far the best pokemon-trainer team I have ever seen."

* * *

"R right, don't think you have me taken down just because you took down my Pidgeotto easily." Gary stumbled on his words and removed a Pokeball. "Let's go, Kadabra!"

The pokemon that had come out was a fox like pokemon standing on its hind legs. It had 1 spoon in his hand, the other was empty.

 _Kadabra, the Psi pokemon employs powerful telekinetic attacks. This Kadabra is on level 26._

"Ka-dabra!" Kadabra spoke in his rather deep tone, raising his spoon. Ash narrowed his eyes.

'If I remember everything I have read about Kadabras, they are amazingly strong psychic type pokemon. But I also remember that Kadabra lose half their strength if they lose their spoon.' Ash thought. 'But that will be too difficult. Maybe I should go for the normal strategy.'

"Alright Kadabra." As soon as the referee gave the begin signal, Gary moved in for his attack. "Use Confusion!"

"Start running and don't stop. That way he won't be able to hit you!" Ash said to Pikachu, who did as told. Indeed, Kadabra couldn't hit Pikachu with his Confusion.

"Don't think I haven't taught my Kadabra anything, Devil Eyes!" Gary shouted. "Use Shadow Ball and hold it!"

Kadabra created a ball of shadowy energy in front of him. Pikachu was still moving very fast for him to hit. As soon as Pikachu passed a certain point, Gary struck.

"Now, straight in front of you!" Kadabra shot the ball, which impacted straight on.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried as he was blasted back, but got back up, much to Gary's surprise. That should have at least done half damage but Pikachu looked as if nothing was wrong with him.

"Alright Pikachu, our turn!" Ash said. "Use quick attack!"

Pikachu got enveloped in a white sheen as it rushed towards Kadabra and impacted on it's chest.

"Now, finish it with thunderbolt!" Ash pointed at Kadabra.

"Pika...CHU!" Pikachu unleashed a large bolt of electricity that KOed Kadabra.

"Kadabra cannot battle, since Gary is out of Pokemon, the winner of this match is Ash and Pikachu!"

* * *

"Man, you are one strong trainer." Leaf said as soon as they all got into a place secluded from the others. "Can't believe you both already have more than 3 pokemon. All I have got is my Ivysaur, jigglypuff and Spearow."

"Che." Gary snorted in slight disappointment. "Can't believe I lost to you, again Devil Eyes."

"Not my fault you went a little too cocky there, but it was a good battle, better than last time." Ash said, resting his head on the table. "So how many badges do you guys have?"

"I have 3." Leaf said. "From Pewter, Cerulean and Vermilion. By the way Brock, is the gym leader related to you? He looked a lot like you."

"Yeah, he's my father." Brock said, rubbing the back of his hair. "I have only faced Gary here and no one else."

Indeed, Brock remembered Gary when he challenged him. Though he had lost, that was one good battle, not better than Ash's though.

"I also have 3 badges." Ash said. "Same ones."

"We are all on the same boat." Gary sighed. "The more badges are still not here. They are somewhere around Celeadon or somewhere like that."

"According to this book." Yancy, who was reading a magazine about pokemon trainers, said out loud. "The main gyms in the region are starting from Pewter, then Cerulean, then Vermilion, then celeadon, then saffron, then fuscia, then cinnabar and finally... Viridian?"

"Yeah, Viridian city also has a gym, but it's locked." Ash said, remembering when he went to the place only to find it closed off. "I have heard that Viridian city gym is the strongest gym in the Kanto region."

"Yup, and I have decided it is going to be the last gym I challenge." Leaf said. "I first need 7 badges for that, that means 4 more. By the way, where are you headed off next?"

"First Lavender." Ash said, nudging his head towards Yancy. "She wants to take part in the Musical there, then to Celeadon for my gym badge."

"Ah yes, you need to go to Celeadon to get into saffron as well." Gary said. "Do any of you know why that is? I find it extremely weird. I asked Grandpa, but he said I don't need to worry about it."

"I don't know, I think it is to close down the rather ridiculous amount of crime that goes on in that city." Boris said. "Seriously, darkness isn't all that good you know?"

"Hmm." Ash closed his eyes to try and think of something about that. And then he remembered something else. "Ah shit."

"What?" Leaf looked at him. "Something wrong."

"I forgot to call mom after I got on the ship." Ash started to tremble. "And it's already 5 in the evening."

The only ones who reacted to that were Boris, Leaf and Gary, all of them shooting him pitying glances. Yancy and Brock looked on in confusion as Ash ran off to their room.

"What's wrong with him?" Brock asked his older friends. "Surely his mother can't be that worried right?"

"Miss Delia is by far the most caring mother one could ever seen." Leaf started. "But she has one thing wrong about her."

"She even though allows Ash to do whatever he wants." Boris continued, getting a ghastly look in his eyes. "There is always one thing she hates."

"And when Ash keeps her in the dark about things." Gary was shivering. "She shows of that demonic side of hers. And that side is something I pray I never have to see again."

"The horror." Leaf whimpered. "The horror!"

Brock and Yancy looked at each other, and decided it was better not to pry about that, better for their health that way.

* * *

"Seriously Mom, I am not 4." Ash muttered to himself after getting an earful from his mother. "I was having fun."

Ash was walking down the hallways with a face that most would be calling pouty. His red eyes that were usually emotionless held a sort of disappointment and frustration in them. And that was because his mother still tried to coddle him as much as she could.

However, before that thought process could go on, he noticed something that shouldn't be present, a strange man dressed in all black with an R behind his uniform in red. It didn't even take a second for him to realise what he was looking at. Apparently, Pikachu also remembered the person standing before them as he started to growl slightly from his shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu snarled, jumping in front of him and starting to sparkle dangerously. The man noticed the two of them and paled.

"Crap, it had to be the boy who stopped our project in mount moon." The man mumbled, starting to back up. "And I also happened to have no pokemon on me. Well, only one thing remains."

And then, the rocket grunt ran for his life. Ash and Pikachu weren't far behind. They weren't going to let this man escape, for they knew if Team Rocket was in the ship, there was something that was going to go wrong.

Elsewhere, Brock and Yancy were stuck in a strange predicament as well. They were headed back to their room when they saw 2 team rocket grunts appear out of a corner with 2 Koffings and demanded their Pokemon. Of course, they weren't going to give them that easily so it escalated into a one sided Battle in which Brock and his Rhyhorn and Yancy and Cleafairy completely destroyed the 2.

"Damn it, Ash, where the hell are you?" Both of them were running in the hallways of the ship trying to find their friend. "Out of all the places, it had to be in a ship right?"

"I hope he is not in trouble." Yancy meanwhile was much more worried about Ash. She had his egg with him in her hands. "And he also doesn't have his Pokemon with him."

She was mentioning to the 3 Pokemon Ash had let out that were running with them. Charmeleon was carrying squirtle on his back so they could run faster, and Ivysaur was carrying Meowth.

"Char! Charmeleon!" Charmeleon said something, making an unexpected turn. There they saw a Team Rocket grunt running with Ash and Pikachu high on his heels. "Char!"

"Ivy! Saur!" Ivysaur released 2 of his wines and trapped the rocket grunt, who started to struggle.

"God damn it you stupid little plant! Let me go!" He shouted. "I have a very important mission to complete!"

"And till you tell what that mission is you aren't going anywhere!" Ash came to a stop, Pikachu still sparking dangerously. "Why is Team Rocket on this ship?"

"Why do you think kid?" The rocket grunt growled. "Imagine the Pokemon we could get from the amount of trainers here!"

The three of them suddenly realised what that meant. This guy and 2 Brock and Yancy encountered, they weren't the only rocket grunts on the ship!

"There are more of them." Ash whispered, his eyes wide as he suddenly heard a lot of shouts and some explosions from above. "We need to help them, but first, Ivysaur, use sleep powder on him!"

Ivysaur nodded and released some of the sleep powder on the rocket grunt, who cursed as he fell asleep, leaving the 3 alone. Ash looked at his Pokemon, and nodded at them.

"The 3 of you did great, but this might get dangerous, return!" Ash said, removing 3 of his pokeballs to call back the 3 pokemon. The 3 without hesitance went back inside the ball. "Alright, let's go this way. We need to get to the top of the ship near and in the main hall."

"Yeah, but we don't have our bags!" Yancy nodded. "I have everything I need in my bag."

"Yeah, all those supplies need to be put in good use." Brock also nodded. "And so do yours."

"Alright, so here's the plan. First, we go to our room, then we move upwards towards the main hall." Ash said. "And if we find any Rocket grunt in our way, we knock him out, clear?"

"Yup!"

* * *

"Wortortle, use bubble beam!" Gary shouted to his Wortortle to deliver the finishing attack to knock out a rocket grunt's Ekans. "Che, piece of cake. Who are you guys exactly?"

"Damn it! How the hell are all these kids so strong? First that red eyes monster and now you!" The rocket grunt exclaimed and ran off after recalling his Ekans. Gary blinked then smirked, this time, a true smirk.

"Heh, you have installed fear in the enemy's heart as well huh, Devil Eyes?" Gary muttered and started to walk towards what he believed was where the stairs were. "I hope you 3 are alright."

On the same floor, Leaf was running towards the Stairs as well.

"How did these guys get on this ship?!" Leaf shouted, taking a turn. "Damn it! Where are the stairs!?"

All around the ship shouts started to emerge as suddenly, Team rocket began their plan. And this wasn't all going in the good side's favour either.

"Boos, we have managed to gather 30 pokemon." One grunt, wearing a red band on his shoulder said into the pokegear he had. "But we also are running into some problems. The trainers out here aren't weak and all have stage 2 evolved pokemon. We miscalculated that fact."

" _... I don't care about that._ " The voice of the boss coldly said. " _Our goal is to get at least a 100 pokemon from that Ship, and I want them. How you get them isn't my problem. But if I don't find 100 pokeballs filled with Pokemon on my table by tomorrow, punishment will be given and it will be harsh. Is that clear?_ "

"... Yes." The admin fearfully said to his boss and sighed when the line was cut. "But first, I need a certain Pokemon belonging to a certain brat."

* * *

Ash and his friends were currently running up the stairs when it happened. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rock was smashed in front of them, forcing Ash to stop instantly. Brock was able to hold himself, but Yancy wasn't and almost got crushed by the rock if not for Ash wrapping his arms around her middle section and holding her.

"EEP!" Yancy shrieked as she realised where she was and jumped out of Ash's arms, blushing a deep cherry red. Ash looked on in slight concern and confusion.

"What is it?" Apparently, he didn't realise what was wrong with her. "You okay? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"N n no." She stuttered out, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart. "I I I, I am fine."

"Well Well Well, ain't this a romantic scene?" The three turned over to see a Rocket grunt with a red band walk towards them. Behind him was a large pokemon with slabbed brown skin, in the form of a sphere with legs coming out of him. Ash narrowed his eyes.

 _Golem, the megaton pokemon. Golem's shell is so hard that not even dynamite can break through. This Golem is on level 32._

"Brock, Yancy, get out of here." Ash said after checking the level. This golem wasn't going to be easy to beat. "Leave this to me, go!"

"Forget it!" The grunt snarled. "Golem, use Rock throw on the stairs!"

Golem created and threw another rock at the staircase behind the group of three, blocking the exits.

"Now, how about you be a good boy and give up your pokemon, especially your Charmeleon?" The admin said with a twisted smile. "He will be a fine addition to our team."

"... Ivysaur." Ash called out his Ivysaur. His eyes had gotten cold, incredibly cold. No one was taking his pokemon away from him, no one. "Time for battle."

"Ash are you really?" Brock whispered to him. Ash didn't respond, just glared at the man in front of them. Yancy on the other hand...

"Crush him Ash!" Yancy wanted to see this guy beaten to dust. She didn't like bullies and meanies.

"I expected it will come to this." The grunt sighed in mock frustration. "I will finish you off quickly. Golem, use Rock Throw!"

"Smack it away with Vine Whip!" Ash countered back. "Then use Razor Leaf!"

Ivysaur created 2 large vines and swung them around causing the rock that was thrown at him and then let loose a barrage of leaves that hit Golem. Golem winced slightly due to the type effect, but stood still.

"Hahaha!" The admin laughed. "Give up kid. There's no way you can win against my golem with that pathetic plant of yours!"

"Don't call my Pokemon pathetic!" Ash shouted back. "Ivysaur, Poison Powder."

You see, they were in a Ship, and fighting in a narrow hallway. Poison powder had a wide effect, meaning the Golem didn't have much room to hide in. And since they were in a ship, Golem couldn't dig to hide.

"Grr.." The admin growled as he saw his golem get poisoned. "Attack him with Rock Tomb! And it better be good, you useless pile of rocks!"

"The one useless here is you!" Ash shouted in rage. "Don't you know that you should treat your Pokemon with respect?! They are your friends!"

"Che, friends? All I see here is a useless pile of rocks." The admin said. "He is better off dead."

"How could you?!" Yancy shouted in horrific anger. "He's a Pokemon!"

"You brats think everyone sees Pokemon as friends? Well, you need to grow up then." The admin growled. "Golem, use Magnitude!"

"Ash, if he uses that move, theres a chance that this entire ship will sink!" Brock shouted to Ash. "You have to stop him!"

"Ivysaur, use Petal Dance before he can use the move!" Ash knew his Ivysaur was faster than the opposing Golem, and the poisioning only helped him. Ivysaur was surrounded by petals which he then sent towards Golem, knocking the pokemon out due to the type advantage Ash had. Ash smirked as he saw Golem falling down.

"Grr, why you little brat!" The grunt called back his Pokemon and snarled at him. "Never mind that, I will take your pokemon by my own hands!"

"Not so fast, Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder!" Ash used the old stratergy of knocking someone out by sleep powder to stop the man from coming forward to them. Once the Admin was knocked out, they were free to go. "Alright guys, let's go!"

After another half an hour of running and 3 more rocket grunts later, Ash, Yancy, Brock and Pikachu made it to the top of the ship in the deck.

"Ash!" Leaf called out to him from a corner where she, Gary and Boris were standing. "Thank god you are okay!"

"We encountered a bit of trouble while getting here." Ash sighed, keeping the incubator in his hands on the table to rest his arms a bit. "But we made it. You guys found any trouble?"

"Some grunts here and there." Boris said. "But I and Charmeleon flamed past them!"

"Even in such a situation you say such stuff?" Gary was looking incredibly tired for some reason. "Man, I hope we can go back to our rooms soon."

"Which floor were you on?" Brock raised an eyebrow. Gary was looking ready to fall asleep any moment. "The bottom most?"

"I was on the other end of the ship, on the B5 floor." Gary said, stretching to keep himself awake. "And I had to run all the way from there to here where some crewmembers told me to head off to."

Indeed, many people were in the giant hall with almost all the crew members present. And luckily, there weren't any rocket grunts around. They were doing everything they could to calm down the more scared passengers.

Suddenly, every pokemon that was outside started to behave differently, Pikachu turning towards a window and starting to whimper.

"Pikachu?" Ash asked in concern to his friend. "Are you alright?"

His concerns were however halted with a loud cry of 'Tsunami' from somewhere. From the west of the boat, a large wave was headed towards them, not enough to engulf them, but powerful enough to topple them over. And even though they were in a safe place, nothing could stop them from toppling over now.

* * *

" _-We have just received word that the was hit by a large wave, possibly toppling over upside down. From our last transmission with the crew, all the passengers were alive and accounted for. Rescue oper-_." Delia switched the TV off after that, getting up and going to the window of her office in her house. She looked incredibly worried, as expected of a mother whose 10 year old son and his 2 10 and 15 years old friends were inside a boat in the middle of the sea, trapped. His Pokegear wasn't receiving signal, and that only increased her worry 10 fold.

"Delia." Professor Oak, who was also present looked at her with slight concern in his eyes. But anyone would be able to see the worry in them for all the children in the boat. "I think worrying will only cause you to feel worse."

"What can I do except worry Sam?" Delia said without turning around. "It was supposed to be a simple 1 night trip, nothing more nothing else. And besides, it isn't like Ash is older, he is only 10 years old and even though he has 3 badges and 4 Pokemon, that doesn't soothe my worry."

"I know what you mean, I am pretty sure my own daughter in law right now is chewing her nails in worry and is in tears, but you know as well as I do how much of Ash's father is in Ash." The professor stated, turning to a certain picture on a desk. "And how much Ash behaves like his father."

"That is what worries me more." Delia whispered, closing her eyes. 'Please keep all of them safe, god.'

* * *

"Ash!" Said teen looked to his right. As soon as the wave had been sighted, he had put all his Pokeballs in the bag along with his egg and personal items, closed it shut and hugged it as tight as he could. He didn't know what happened afterwards, but from what he did know was somehow he ended up in the corridor of the 2nd floor. Everything else was blurry, but the more important thing was, his Pokemon, his egg and personal items were safe. On his right was Yancy who had clenched his arm as soon as the wave hit, ending up with him. Brock was nowhere to be found. "Ash are you okay?"

"..." Ash nodded silently, getting up. "You?"

"I am scared." Yancy truthfully said also getting up and looking around. "We need to find Brock."

"Don't worry, I am right here." Brock's voice came out of the corner as the said teen walked towards them. "Remind me to thank bill for a wonderful trip."

Both Ash and Yancy cracked a smile at that. Ash felt a weight on his shoulder and he saw Pikachu jump up on it.

"Pika!" Pikachu said cheerfully, a gesture of telling everyone he was alright as well. "Pikapi, Pika!"

"Yeah, I know." Ash looked around at the empty corridor. Water was starting to fill in lightly. "We are trapped and are in the water. Literally the worst place to be."

The three continued to asses their surroundings, all of them wondering the same thing.

'How are we going to get out of this alive?'

 _ **Chapter End.**_

 **Author's notes- Phew, been a while since I updated this one. This lasted for bloody 12.5k words, a new record for me. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Now, first thing, in the last chapter when Bulbasaur evolves, I sort of forgot that Bulbasaur is a part poison type as well, and there is no way I can update that so please, ignore the minor glitch and consider that I changed Bulbasaur's typing to be a pure grass type, sorry for that.**

 **The second thing, I know I haven't given Charmander a back story, and it doesn't mean I am not going to give one. Charmander has a back story for being a shiny and also having blue coloured flames, uncommon to the normal shiny of its type, and it will be revealed soon.**

 **The third thing, no, the squirtle is not the same one considering the Squirtle Ash had caught was already strong enough, but there are some similarities between them.**

 **Also, about Ash being Red. You see, Ash and Red are actually related because Ash's counterpart in the games and manga is Red, and I am talking about the Pokemon Adventures manga. And Red is Ash's nickname due to his eyes given to him by his mother. That name will gain fame in the future as well, and red will appear as a tag character if I believe that it is necessary. But for now, Ash is the one that will be in the lead, even though both of them in this fic are the same person.**

 **Finally, about the Dragon King. Don't worry folks, those who are wondering that I have abandoned the story, it's not true. I just have ran out of a thought to make the chapter a little better, which I just received today after watching a few anime/manga similar to Fairy Tail. Expect the 10** **th** **chapter of that one in a few days.**

 **And also, about William Grant, expect him to make more appearences in the future, as well as Hilda, if you know what i mean. Thank you all for the 99 favs and 121 follows, this is all for you.**

 **Till then, this is Omnipotent97 signing off. Stay tuned for updates.**


	10. SS Anne 2-Rock Tunnel-Lavender Town

**DISCLAIMER- I don't own Pokemon, it belongs to Game Freak and Satoshi Taijiri.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Pokedex_

 **A.n- I know the titile in the main scroll down and in the chapter does not match, but it won't fit.**

Chapter 10-The Sinking 2- Lavender City- Rock Tunnel-Musical 2.

"Alright, let's figure this out." Brock calmly took a breath. "We are in the middle of the ocean, in an upside down boat, on the 3rd floor from the top. That means, we need to climb 3 floors right now, and then some more to get to the part of the boat that's above the water."

"Yes, that's right." Ash was looking at a large portrait/wallpaper/picture of the layout of every floor in the . "Currently, according to this, we are in the upper hallway. If we go straight, we will end up reaching the stairs which lead to the ball room, basically where we were in."

"But how will me make it down there? Everything is upside down!" Yancy exclaimed looking at her surroundings. "And we don't have any flying type pokemon either!"

"Yes, that's definitely true." Brock nodded and then looked at Ash. "Hey, Ash, is there any other way through?"

"Hmm, let me see." Ash looked upon the picture again, this time finding a different way. "Well, there is, but I don't think you will like that one."

"It might be the only option we have." Brock said after taking a deep breath. "So, what is it?"

"It's going through the elevator shaft. There's a ladder that leads to a service door on the B2 floor. That is high enough. Even if this ship is upside down and inside water, I am sure we can make our way through there and jump out in a safety raft." Ash said, pointing the way. "But that's not a problem is it?"

The truth was, Yancy wasn't the best when it came to climbing, mainly because she had a very big fear of heights. And as he was saying that, Yancy had gotten deathly pale.

"I is there n no other way?" She stuttered. She wasn't even near the ladder yet, hell not even decided whether she was going to climb or not, and she was shivering. "P please tell me there's another way."

"The only other way is, we find a submerged area, jump into the water and swim out. However, we won't survive that." Brock said, looking at her apologetically. "So yes, we have no other way."

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder. "Pikapi Pikachu!"

"Yeah, there's also those 3." Ash whispered, looking at the picture again. "Gary, Leaf, Boris, stay safe."

"They will be safe." Brock assured him. "But now, we need to get out here as fast as we can. Ash, what will you do with your egg?"

"I will put him in my bag for now and use some of my clothes as cushion for it." Ash said, removing his bag and creating a case for the incubator inside. "That's the only way it will be safe. I don't know how are we getting out of this one, but there's no way in hell I am going to die today!"

"Ash!" Yancy pointed out to his pocket. "Your Pokegear!"

"Huh?" He removed it, and was surprised to see the number. "Gary?"

" _Ash? Thank god!_ " Gary sounded relieved for some reason. " _Are you alright? We all got separated after that wave hit us. I have Leaf and Boris with me? Where's your group?"_

"We are all together." Ash replied. "All well and accounted for. We are on the 3rd floor, and we have a way to get out to the part of the boat that isn't submerged yet."

" _Well, we are kind of stuck in a similar position. The only thing is, we are on the 2_ _nd_ _floor, a floor above you._ " Leaf spoke into the Pokegear. " _I am surprised that we could talk even when we are in the water."_

"It's because we aren't that deep in yet." Ash said, but then he felt the boat rumble. "Listen guys, make your way to the main elevator. Try to push the gates open, and if not, use your pokemon to get it open. Wait a minute. Is it just me, or are we floating backwayrds?"

Indeed, they were going backwards, as if they were being pulled by a incoming inferno of... water!

" _Oh crap! HANG ON, THIS IS GONNA BE BAD!"_ And then, it was all dark.

* * *

"Br..k!" Something shook him. "Bro.k!"

The voice was getting clearer. His eyes squinted as much as it could, which should be impossible, but it still happened. In front of him was Ash. Ash who was shaking him as much as he could, while he was pressing his hand against his chest.

"Brock wake up!" Finally, he woke up with a start. Looking around, he was surprised to the open sky outside of the window, filled with stars and stuff. It was very dark, and Charmeleon was outside, acting as a heater and a source of light at the same time. "Thank Mew! Are you okay? You are the last one."

He looked at Yancy who was leaning on the side of the wall, clutching her Meowth to her chest, while smiling at him.

"Hey Brock, morning." She joked. "Finally up I see."

"What... Happened?" He slurred out, rubbing his head. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, we were flipped upside down again, luckily, we still didn't make it downstairs, or we would be in trouble. The ship's sinking, fast. And we need to get to the main room, fast."

"We all were okay after the wave came in, but Ash got hurt by a shard of glass. He plucked it out, but his arm has a nasty cut." Yancy said. Brock looked at Ash's arm, which he was pressing down upon with a towel, while red stains were quite visible. "We need first aid as well."

"No time for that." Ash said, getting up and shouldering his bag. "My cushion worked, the egg's safe. Pikachu is safe as well."

"Pika!" However, he looked extremely tired. "Pikapi."

"Yeah, don't worry buddy, we are getting out of here." Brock understood what Pikachu wanted to say. He didn't need to know pokemon language to know that. They all wanted to get out of the sea as long as possible, and stay as far away from it as they could. Enough sea for the month. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I won't be if we wait here!" Ash snapped, "Because I am sick and tired of this god forsaken boat! I need to get on land as soon as possible!"

"Yeah, I feel you." Brock nooded, and got up. Checking his bag and his Pokeballs, all three of them started to jog towards the Main staircase, hell bent on getting out of this place. And they managed to do it. In 10 minutes, they came upon the main hallway, where many people were waiting by the emergency boats. Crewmembers were doing their best to make sure everyone was safe and were getting on smoothly.

"Ash!" the group turned around to see the 3 other trainers from pallet running towards them. "You made it as well!"

"Yeah, somehow." Ash said, wincing as he felt his hand throb. "But I don't think my hand shares those feelings."

"That doesn't look good." Boris winced as he saw the scar on his hand. "It looks, sort of, painful."

"Nah, will be fine with it." Ash shrugged. "So, any ideas how to get out of here?"

"Yeah, the boats aren't ready to be lowered yet, but they will lower them as soon as they can. Probably 10 minutes more. But we won't have that much time." Gary said, motioning over to the side of the boat. "There's a hole in the hull of the ship. It's going down fast. I would say, we have around, 5 minutes."

"Let's hope all the boats are lowered on time then." Yancy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was all a little too much for her. "But we need to get Ash to a doctor!"

"Yeah, scars like that can get infected if not treated." Leaf nodded, worry gracing her features. "There has to be a paramedic here. I see nurse joy over there."

Indeed, a nurse joy was on the ship, treating many Pokemon that were injured in the ordeal. Just before they could go towards the Nurse however, a net dropped down from the sky and trapped all the pokemon.

"What the?!" There was a meowth balloon that was flying in the sky, with 3 certain stooges in there. "Who the hell are you guys?!"

* **Insert team rocket motto.** *

"Wait! We forgot the twoips Pokemon!" Mewoth pointed a claw towards Ash. "Especially that Pikachu!"

"You know these guys?" Gary whispered in Ash's ears. Ash sighed.

"Yeah, they are thieves from team rocket, they want to steal my Pikachu for some reason." Ash said, picking a Pokeball from his belt. "Go! Ivysaur!"

"Ivysaur!" Ivysaur came out with a cry. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the balloon with the many pokemon inside. "Ivysaur! Ivy!"

"I knew he wasn't gonna be an easy one to persuade." Jessie grit her teeth, and called out upon her Ekans. "Ekans, use Poison Sting!"

Ekans let loose needles of Poison however, to Ivysaur, they were nothing since he was a part poison type himself.

"Razor Leaf!" From his sides, Ivysaur launched a bunch of razor sharp leaves towards the balloon, popping it and causing it to fall on the ship. "Now cut the net!"

Another use of Razor Leaf later, all the Pokemon were back beside their trainers, however, their situation was getting worse. The ship was sinking in much faster now. And they needed to do something before they were all dead, and team rocket wasn't making this easier.

"Why you little!" James shouted, getting out of the mess their balloon had created. "Do you know how much that Balloon costs? I half a mind to make you pay for it! Go Koffing!"

"Hey! You aren't going to steal any Pokemon here!" Gary snapped at them. He might be a jerk, but he hated thieves. "Go Wortortle!"

Wortortle cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the beating that he was about to do. Ivysaur started to growl.

"Koffing, Sluge!"

"Ekans, Bite!"

Both of Team Rocket's pokemon jumped for the pokemon that belonged to Ash and Gary.

"Wortortle, use Water gun to counter that Sludge!"

"Ivysaur, stop that Ekans with Vine Whip!"

Water rushed out from Wortortle's mouth and collided with the Sludge, completely dissolving it and making it useless, while Ivysaur unleashed vines that caught a hold of Ekans.

"Ivysaur, throw Ekans back at Team rocket!"

"Wortortle, use Water Pulse on Koffing!"

Ivysaur took a heave and threw the Ekans towards Jessie, while Wortortle created a small ball of water in his hand, which collided with Koffing, pushing him back due to the extreme force, sending him into James.

"Oh oh." All three of the rocket grunts gulped, while Ash and Gary grinned.

"Ivysaur, Petal Dance!"

"Wortortle, Water Pulse!"

Both the petals from Ivysaur and the water from Wortortle mixed, sending team rocket into their balloon, which exploded, sending team rocket flying.

"Team Rocket is blasting off again!"

* * *

"I have to admit, that ship wasn't that bad." Boris said, looking at the sinking ship in the distance. They had managed to get on a small boat, which luckily wasn't all that destroyed, and onto the open sea, safely headed towards Lavender town port.

"Yeah, it was a great ship." Yancy nodded, and then frowned. "But team rocker and that wave had to ruin it."

"Yeah, wonder what's with them." Brock was using a cotton ball dipped in alcohol that he had gotten from the first aid kit from somewhere to clean Ash's wound. Said red eyed teen was gritting his teeth as the alcohol stung his skin and the wound on his hand. "Just a little more, Ash."

"It stings." Small teardrops were surrounding the edges of his eyes as he grit his teeth and closed his eyes shut. "Bad."

"Oh come on Devil Eyes!" Gary rolled his eyes. "Don't be a wimp, weren't you supposed to be the bravest one out of us?"

"Let me cut your hand up and then you do this." Ash grit out, glaring a hole into Gary. "Then tell me about bravery!"

"Yeah, this usually hurts." Leaf was curiously looking at the frothing wound on Ash's hand. "Man, that looks like someone applied soap over it."

"Don't worry though Ash, it's all done." Brock said, sticking a bandaid over it. "You don't need to worry about it now, you will be safe, but we need to show it to a more professional person in the future, perhaps when we reach Lavender town."

"According to the guys that are driving the boat, we are still an hour or 2 out of the port." Boris said, pointing towards the crewman. "However, the range in the Pokegear is now back to full. Expect calls from everyone soon, especially your mother, she's going to be extremely worried about you."

"Yeah, I think so too." Ash shivered as he thought of the reaction of his mother. "Man, this is not going to end well, I just know it."

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, which most of the people spent sleeping or napping.

* * *

" _Are you sure you are okay and you don't want to take a break? Like really sure?_ " It had been 2 days since the incident in , and 2 days of answering questions, staying indoors and staying away from the media who were trying to speak to every single survivor of the , luckily, it seemed that someone up there didn't want the media to getting to him or his friends. However, one thing he couldn't avoid was his extremely worried mother.

"For the nth time in 2 days mom, I am fine, this is just a cut, it's not infected, and yes, I want to continue my Journey. Yancy has a musical to attend 4 days later and I am not getting out of this part of Kanto until I have all the major badges, namely from Fuscia, Celeadon and Saffron." Ash sighed in frustration. "I will be fine mom, I am not little anymore."

" _You will understand my worry when you are a parent yourself, Ash._ " Delia sighed on the other side. " _Alright, you continue your journey. But I want calls every day, Ash, is that clear?_ "

"Yes Ma'am." He sighed in relief when his mother cut the call. "She's as worried as I expected her to be."

"Yeah, she didn't even use your nickname." Brock pointed out. "Usually she does so every time she calls."

"What's up with that anyway?" Yancy was feeding her Pokemon some treats. Earlier, she had chosen to evolve her Cleafairy into Cleafable, so Meowth and Cleafable were eating their food. "Why red?"

"My name was supposed to be Red, Red Ketchum." Ash said, his eyes darkening over. "However, my... Grandfather didn't want that name because he hated the colour Red. So I was named Ash, but my parents called me Red at home. It's a nickname of sorts."

"You sound like you don't like your Grandfather?" Ash's hand was now covered in bandages, secured tightly with medical tape. It wasn't easy for him to bend his arm, but he could work with it, he only needed to make sure he continued to change it every day for a week and then he could get rid of it and only apply the medicine. "Was he strict or something?"

"Frankly, I don't even remember him, he passed away when I was 4 months old. However, from what my mother told me about him, he was a... how shall I put this... very selfish and someone who only did things that benefited him, directly or indirectly." Ash said, calling out his own Pokemon for their food. Pikachu was fast asleep, already having eaten his food with Yancy's Pokemon. "My father even said that when my uncle was younger, Grandpa slapped him in the middle of his classroom because he wasn't the top student in the class."

"Man, talk about harsh expectations." Brock's eyebrows were touching his head. "I don't even think _my_ father was that strict, and I have 9 siblings!"

"Yeah, that's even worse than my parents leaving me." Yancy shivered. "That must have been humiliating for him, your uncle I mean."

"Yeah, he was teased for weeks, but my father interrupted everything when he found out about him. Strangely, nor my father, nor my uncle ever had been teased after that." Ash said. "However, that's of the past. By the way Yancy, are you prepared for your next musical?"

"Yup." Yancy had an excited smile on her face. "Even if I don't have any other Pokemon, I can take part in this without any trouble, and I am going to win this one!"

"That's the spirit." Brock nodded, calling out his own Pokemon. "Hey Ash, do you think we should go and explore Rock tunnel tomorrow or the day after? It sounds interesting."

"Yeah, I want to train my pokemon out there as well." Ash nodded, looking at a eating Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charmeleon and a dozing Pikachu.

"Yeah, maybe I can get a Pokemon as well." Yancy nodded, then yawned. "But right now, I want to sleep. It's already late in the night."

"So tomorrow we go to Rock tunnel, and then we can focus on Yancy's musical." Brock nodded, and wrote something down in his book. "Man, remind me to invest a few bucks in a Pokegear."

"Yeah, it's definitely useful." Yancy nodded, looking at the one Ash had in his hand. "But you can't note down stuff in it."

"Yeah, but it has a Radio, a camera, a phone and a map. That's amazing already, what else do you need?" Brock proved his point. "And I don't want to borrow Ash's all the time when we are stuck up somewhere or things like that."

Ash sighed as the 2 argued about a Pokegear of all things, and he petted Pikachu on the head who murmured in his sleep. But the smile on his face betrayed him. He clearly enjoyed their company.

* * *

"I am so glad you convinced us to buy some heavy duty flashlights." Yancy said. The first thing they noticed after entering Rock tunnel was, it was incredibly dark. Like, so dark, you couldn't even see 10 feet in front of you. Brock, who apparently had heard about the Rock tunnel and it's insides from the people that had travelled through the longer way to reach lavender, that was, from Cerulean, through the Rock tunnel and then outside to Lavender town, had told him only one thing; to bring the brightest flashlights and as many glow in the dark things and batteries he could. So the first thing he had done was go to the market with Ash and Yancy, and they had brought a couple of flares, some glow in the dark stickers and rope and 4 medium sized heavy duty neon flashlights, and 8 packs of batteries. 1 flashlight and 2 packs for each of them, and set as extra in case someone's flashlight suddenly doesn't work. And it helped, as they now could see everything much better, at least enough to navigate inside the caves. "Mt. Moon holds no candle to this, this is much spookier."

"The pokemon in here are also going to be strong." Ash on the other hand was well prepared for a good training session. With Nurse Joy giving a green signal for Squirtle to start training, he had a lot to catch up on. His egg was nowhere close to hatching as of yet, the predicted date being still 2 weeks away, he could safely deposit the egg with Nurse joy for the time he was training, no matter how much reluctant he was to do so. But he understood that a cave was no place for an egg, and it would be much safer that way. So he was here with Pikachu and his 3 other Pokemon, just sitting around. He had brought all of his training equipment and a ton of Potions and full heals so he could train. "And that excites me. Perhaps we can fight some trainers in here too."

"I doubt there are going to be trainers inside here." Brock looked on ahead in the cave, where there was no sign of life, until now, except some Zubats. "It's so dark no one will try to battle."

10 minutes later, Ash was palming his face while Ash smirked at him smugly after defeating a hiker.

"He was the one who challenged him." Yancy pointed out, barely managing to hold off her giggles after seeing Brock's face. "Admit it Brock, you can't read the minds of people."

"How is that even in context to this scenario!?" Brock exclaimed as the 3 started to walk towards a part of the cave which lead more downstairs. Ash was applying the glow in the dark stickers every 10 meters, while Yancy was scratching on arrows on the rocks every 5 meters so they won't get lost and could always find the way. "Anyways, should we explore as much as we can till 4? Or should we explore the whole cave today?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Ash nodded, looking around him to see if there were any Pokemon. "Aren't you going to train to Brock?"

"Actually yes, I do want to train." Brock nodded, but shot a mock glare at Ash. "But you usually steal all the battles."

"The only way you both will be able to battle is if you both go different ways." Yancy pointed out. "But that doesn't sound like a good idea."

"That is exactly why it is a good idea." Ash and Brock both said together, nodding at each other. Yancy sighed and shook her head. She and her big mouth.

"And besides, we are in the best place to separate anyway. Look, the path splits here. Yancy, you should go with Ash, just in case." On the outside, he looked like an older brother worrying over his little siblings, but on the inside, his mind was having a much darker turn.

'Hehehe, go on, go alone.' He evilly thought, masking a hidden evil grin. 'I want to see what sort of a couple you are going to be in the future.'

Or he might just be having perverted thoughts about children. Man, no wonder no girl liked him.

Ash looked at Yancy, who had slightly pink cheeks as she avoided his glance. For some reason, the thought of being alone with Ash made her feel weird, in a good way.

"I don't have any problems." Ash said, expectantly looking at Yancy.

"S sure, I don't mind either." She stuttered out. Brock had a face of like the cat caught the canary, but he hid it expertly.

"Good, we will meet here in 5 hours, is that okay with you?" Brock asked, both the 10 year olds nodded, and they went off their separate ways.

* * *

"So what do you have in mind?" Ash asked Yancy after beating the 4th trainer he encountered. One thing good about this place was, the Pokemon in here were majority ground and rock types, giving Squirtle a much needed boost in training. "Till now, it has only been me who is defeating trainers, nothing about you."

"Umm, I would like to catch a new pokemon, but I don't think I will find any in here that are to my liking." Seeing Ash battle had spark the hidden trainer within her, and she also had sent out her Meowth to defeat any wild Pokemon that came closer. Of course, it was much more difficult for her since Meowth only knew one move that was super effective, or actually, remotely effective against Rock and Ground types, that was Iron tail. And Cleafable wasn't ready to learn the high tier moves yet, so it was getting a little difficult for her.

"Well, can't be helped. We are still a level above the lowest one. After that, we can leave this cave to get back to the place where Brock told us to meet. I am surprised I haven't seen him yet. I guess that part of the cave leads to a completely different area." Ash said, flashing his light to the small entrance in the distance. "That's our way down."

However, what they found downstairs was something completely unexpected. Just as they were about to leave the room to head back upstairs, Yancy saw something in the dark, 2 gleaming eyes, looking straight at her.

"Hey, what is that?" Yancy pointed her light towards the 2 eyes, where a small fox like Pokemon was seated. It had 6 tails, a darker shade of orange than it's fur, and a cream underbelly. Both of it's blue eyes were gleaming with curiosity and slight weakness. "Is that a Pokemon?"

 _Vulpix, the fox pokemon. It has a very hot flame stored deep inside of it which he releases from its mouth to keep itself cool. This Vulpix is a female and is on level 20._

"It's so cute." Yancy muttered under her breath, taking a step towards the Vulpix, who didn't even flinch. She started to shiver slightly however. After getting a little closer, they noticed it's condition. She was shivering, heavily, as if she was afraid, or more in this case, Cold.

"She's cold." Ash said, kneeling down to look at her closely. "Very cold."

Yancy touched the Vulpix on the head, and she gasped.

"Oh no, she is extremely cold!" Yancy exclaimed, removing her white coloured Dress-shirt and using it to warm up the young Vulpix. She cradled her in her arms. The Vulpix purred as it scooted over to Yancy's warmth. "We need to get her to the Pokemon centre!"

"Hmm, that's going to be a problem." Ash quickly moved over to the hole they had come down in. "Come on, time to climb up."

To go up and down these openings in the caves, there weren't any ladders, and the hole was also in the middle of an entire area, so it was difficult to climb up just like that. Good thing they had some glow in the dark rope with multiple knots acting as holding points. So what Ash did was, he tied the rope to his knife, and asked Pikachu to jump up the hole. Once up, he had to stab the knife into the ground as deep as it could go and stay up there. Ash climbed up first, and then asked Yancy to hand over the Vulpix to him. Then she climbed up. This way, they climbed up the 2 floors they were down in, and made it to the place Brock had told to meet. Thankfully, he was waiting for them.

"Phew, for a second i- What is that?" Brock noticed the Vulpix in Yancy's arms, and his eyes widened. "Is that a Vulpix? Down here?"

"Yeah, and it's awfully cold." Yancy said in urgency. "Come on, we need to run to the Pokemon centre as fast as possible!"

* * *

"You brought the Vulpix right on time." Nurse Joy told them with a smile. "She will survive, she just had a cold. By tomorrow, she will be ready to rock and roll."

"Thank god." Yancy sighed in relief, and Ash and Brock cracked a smile. "Can we go see her?"

"She's asleep as of now, but you can definitely do so tomorrow morning." The nurse said, checking something on her chart that she always carried in her hand and walked away.

They had started running from the inner section of the first level of the Rock tunnel, and had ran all the way towards the Pokemon centre for almost an hour. Of course, they were extremely tired, as seen by Ash already collapsed onto the couch in the Main lobby of the Pokemon Centre and Brock lazing around on another. Yancy herself sat on the recliner.

"You know, this reminds me of the time with Bulbasaur." Ash said with his eyes shut. "I really had to run for like, an hour and a half."

"Yeah, but this time, it wasn't as gruesome as that." Brock said, popping his back. "But it was still amazing that we managed to do it. Good work Yancy, you saved that Vulpix."

The next day, Yancy was finally allowed to see the Vulpix, who was happy to see her as well.

"Vul!" Vulpix cried in delight as she snuggled in Yancy's lap. "Vul! Pix!"

"Someone's definitely happy." Ash remarked from the sides. Meowth was leaning over Yancy's lap and staring at the Vulpix curiously and in judgement. "And not just her."

Even Yancy had a big smile on her face as she petted the little Vulpix in her lap.

"She's so cute..." She whispered under her breath. "And so fluffy."

"Hey Yancy." Said girl looked up to Brock. "You should catch the Vulpix."

"Huh?" Yancy looked down to the Vulpix, who was looking up at her hopefully, as if she understood what was going on and what Brock had said. "You want to come with me?"

"Vul!" Vulpix cheerfully nodded, not keen on separating with her newest favourite person. "Vul Pix!"

"Well, no choice then." Removing a Pokeball from her belt, she tapped in on top of Vulpix's head, the fox pokemon going inside without any sort of hesitation. Her Pokedex dinged and the data for vulpix appeared on her screen. It knew the moves Roar, Ember, Tackle, Will-o-Wisp and Confuse Ray. "Hmm, good moves, but I don't think I will be able to use her in this Musical, I don't even know what to have her do."

"Probably a fire show." Ash said, standing up still and popping his back. "So now, I guess you will train for your next Musical?"

"Yes." Yancy nodded, an excited grin framing her face. "I am going to master a few things I want Cleafable to and practice some new songs with Meowth."

"And I am going to explore the city a little." Brock said, motioning over to the tower behind him. "Aren't you curious as to what the tower looks like there?"

"But isn't it forbidden to enter the tower for 3 more days?" Yancy asked. Both Ash and Brock stopped their imagination with that. "You can't go in there either."

"Yeah, that's true." Ash nodded, remembering the article about that in the papers today. "Well, I guess it's back to rock tunnel for me. Or should I help you, Yancy?"

"No, you can go on ahead." Yancy said, but remembered another thing. "You said that you were done with Charmeleon's training right? And that he had finally learnt Flamethrower right?"

"Yeah, why are you asking?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow. She was never interested in the progress his pokemon had.

"Can you lend me your Charmeleon for a while? Please? I need his help for something, specifically to teach Cleafable flamethrower." Yancy pleaded with the best puppy dog look she could give. Ash caved in like wet paper, and called out Charmeleon, who agreed to help her.

Finally, after 4 days of intensive practice, the day of the Musical had arrived. As usual, Yancy was dressed in her usual dress, sitting inside the participants room of the Musical, though this time, she was much more confident and had more faith in herself. Gillian was doing his usual introduction, introducing the judges, the same head clown, Roan and the Nurse joy from Lavender town.

" **So as usual, we will be having the elimination round first before we move onto the 1v1 matches.** " Gillian said. " **Every participant will be showcasing their pokemon and their creative work, and the 8 that will be having the highest points will be the winner. I wish you all the very best for this musical. Our first performer for this musical will be the runner up of the musical in Vermilion city, Yancy Orchid!** "

Yancy came out to the stage running, with a smile on her face, and called out for her Meowth. A special table with a lot of glasses was already set for Meowth. The lights dimmed out and a single spotlight focused on Meowth.

You know those musicians, those famous ones who you can't get enough of? That was the case with Mewoth as well. Yancy had trained Meowth in such a way that her songs would be so enchanting that even the harshest of all critics would be mellowed out by it. And the reactions of the crowd was also the same as the one in Vermilion, loud cheers, that shook the entire stage.

"No matter how many times I hear it, you meowth always has a sort of tune to it that it always charms me." Roan said flashing a thumb up. "That was amazingly well performed, simply magnificent."

"Even though very similar to the one in Vermilion, you managed to show your skills in helping your pokemon master their creative abilities. That is what I believe is truly amazing." Nurse Joy said with a smile. Waving one final time, she and Meowth left the stage, letting the other participants continue.

None of the other performances were different, many of the performers being present in Vermilion, all of them except the very last one. The last participant, a woman named Luna Scarotide, probably in her late 50's was the one that came out to show her skills. She had a Kabutops, a frigging Kabutops, which could sew. Using the large pincers in its arms, Kabutops created a sweater big enough to fit a snorlax in a matter of 30 seconds! Now that was impressive. This not only showed that age wasn't a matter, but it was the mindset that did. The crowd went insane behind this performance, completely insane.

"That was awesome." Ash had his eyes wide in shock as he saw the large sweater that was put on display, along with many other things that the Kabutops had done in the past 3 minutes. "I have to say that. Not even _my_ mother can make sweaters that fast and that good, forget it, she takes 2 to 3 weeks to create a single sweater."

"And it looks wearable and warm too." Brock said. "Man, that woman, though old, is incredibly skilled. Yancy has a tough contender for that Rom today."

* * *

So it appeared that participants weren't allowed to leave the premises of the backroom even when it was breaktime. So Yancy was left alone for the moment, looking around to find a place to sit and eat her food. Luckily, it seemed someone was kind enough to let her sit with them.

"Girl." The voice of the woman that quite possibly delivered the best performance today called out to her from her beside. Luna had a smile on her face. "You can sit here if you want to."

"Are you sure I won't be disturbing you?" Upon seeing her shake her head in denial, Yancy sat down in front of the old woman. She wasn't wearing anything glamourous or stuff. Just a simple dress and an apron, something which suited her very well. "My name is Yancy Orchid, by the way."

"I know, I saw your performance with your Meowth today." The woman nodded with a smile. "Let me introduce myself, I am Luna, Luna Scarotide from Lavender town. I must say, for someone so young, you are quite a creative girl."

"T Thank you, you aren't bad and sluggish either, miss Luna." Yancy blushed under her praise. "I was surprised that you had a Kabutops, let alone one that could sew."

"If you have a Pokemon, it doesn't mean it is an animal. No, it's a friend and a member of the family." Luna said with a smile, sipping her tea. "I have had Kabutops with me all the way since my younger years, back when I was a teen. He's a very sweet and docile Pokemon for someone who was revived using the claw fossil. He was my first Pokemon, and I taught him many things since I lost interest in battling when I crossed 20. Looks like my passion as a seamstress was passed onto Kabutops."

"It makes sense, no one other than a professional seamstress can train their Pokemon to make such designs." Yancy said. "I never will be able to do that, let alone sew anything."

"Well, you are a creative little girl." Luna got up, and slowly started to walk towards the backstage room. "So, mind keeping an old woman company?"

* * *

" **This match, is going to be the most awaited match of this musical!** " It had been a sweep for her to the finals. None of the participants held a challenge to Cleafable's juggling skills, which were 10 times better and stable than as a Cleafairy. She didn't even have to reveal the better stuff. However, that wasn't going to be the case now. Similar to her, Luna also had a sweep with her Magmar and it's fireworks. " **On the left we have Yancy Orchid, and on the right, Luna Scarotide**!"

Both of them had been fan-favorites for this match, the audience support both of them evenly. This was going to be one of the closest tied matches.

" **Both of you will have 5 minutes to give your very best. You should know by now how the scoring works."** Gillian said into the mic, getting out of the way. " **The one to go first will be Luna and her Magmar, followed by Yancy and her Cleafable. May the battle begin!** "

Magmar started its performance on the second the lights went out. At first, it was just beautiful coloured sparks done by the help of sending embers through various metals, until it all escalated to a beautiful light show of flames and sparks, flying around everywhere. It was clear as to how Luna had made her way to the finals. In fact, Luna showed the mastery of her Magmar and her flames further when Magmar started to write all sorts of Words and also dray an image of a Pokeball. It was an amazing display played in 5 minutes, but Yancy wasn't going to give up.

Yancy's Cleafable started off with his usual tricks, until the bowling pins went up to 24. And then she went on her legs, and then she set the bowling pins on fire with flamethrower.

"So that was why she wanted my Charmeleon!" Ash whispered over to Brock, his eyebrows raised. "That's some good thinking."

Cleafable did all kind of tricks, the simple 'O' juggle, then the complicated horizontal 8 juggle, which looked like an infinite symbol. And it raised to even more ridiculous levels when Cleafable used **substitute to juggle between 2 copies of itself!**

The bowling pins juggled by the 2 Cleafables were probably overkill, but Yancy wasn't going to take any chances.

After 5 minutes, both the sides were looking at the scoreboard expectantly and in anticipation. And the score showed an 27 out of 30 for Luna and a 29 out of 30 for Yancy. In short, Yancy had won the Musical, earning her the first Rom she required.

" **The winner of this Musical is Yancy Orchid!** "

* * *

"I still can't believe I won this." Yancy was sitting in one of the tables in the Pokemon centre after getting her reward and her Rom. The disk was gleaming with every ray of light colliding onto it. "It feels so good to win this. Is that how you feel when you win a badge, Ash?"

"Yeah, feels as if I am being appreciated for all the training I have done." Ash said, taking a bite of his sandwich. "But you should probably keep it in a safe place, don't want you damaging it or losing it do we?"

"Yeah." Keeping the Rom inside the Rom case she had been gifted from Ash and Brock for winning the Musical, she smiled brightly at them. "Thank you both for the case, it will help me a lot!"

"It was all Ash's idea." Brock pointed towards Ash, who froze in his bite, but continued to bite anyway. If one would notice properly, they would see a slight tint of pink on his face. "Saying it will suit you because you will need something to keep the Rom."

"I it was an on the spur idea when I saw it." Ash said, as emotionless as ever. "I am sure it will be useful and worth it."

"Yeah, it sure is." Yancy nodded. "So where to next?"

"Celeadon city." Brock said, showing Yancy his map where he had marked a way. "Where Ash's next badge is, but unfortunately, same can't be said for your musical."

"Yeah, according to the website, the next Musical is in Pewter." Ash said. "And we can't make it in time to pewter in 2 weeks. You will have to wait for the one in Saffron, a month later."

"What? A month?" Yancy pouted, slumping over the table. "It's going to be such a long wait!"

"Well, that's not what we should worry about." Ash said, leaning forward slightly. "Saffron city isn't only famous for being the headquarters of ."

"Yeah, the crime rates out there are off the roofs. I mean, in Vermilion, there's a 4% chance that you will be nabbed, or robbed, or kidnapped, or murdered. But in saffron, it's a 25% chance. In fact, it is forbidden to travel in a group in Saffron, and there's an officer on duty 24x7 around every corner. In fact, if you are above 20, you can't travel with another person that is above 20 and isn't a proved and legal family member." Brock said. "It' that serious out there."

"Is that about Saffron city I hear?" Luna, who was passing by, stopped when she heard that. Ash and Brock turned around to see the woman that Yancy battled in the finals. "Hello Yancy, congratulations on your win again."

"H hello Miss Luna." Yancy stood up. "Let me introduce you to my friends and travelling companions, that's Ash from Pallet town and that's Brock from Pewter city."

"Pallet? Then you must know Samuel Oak." Luna commented, gaining a wide eyed look from Ash. Luna laughed. "Yeah, I know him, quite a thinker he is and a good friend as well. So, are you planning to go to Saffron?"

"Eventually." Ash nodded. "There's a Gym out there."

"Hmm, Saffron city Gym, let me tell you a tip." She said, her eyes twinkling in seriousness. "The leader of that gym is someone on a whole different level. It's not the fact that she is a Psychic type gym leader, it's the fact that she's a psychic herself, and that is going to be troublesome for you. Anyways, I don't want to bother you kids, I only wanted to say this to you, Yancy, I hope you come forward till the Pokemon Orchestra, I will wait for you there for a re-match, and I will win it."

"I won't hold back!" Yancy nodded with an excited smile. With the first Rom for Yancy in her bag, she was now one step closer to reaching the Pokemon Orchestra, but will the road be easy? Or will it be filled with trouble? Well, that's something we all have to guess.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Authour's notes- WHOO HOO! 3 updates in 7 days, boo yeah! I can't believe I wrote this chapter in just 3 days! And that is why it is going to be sort of shitty. And I expect it to be because it's troublesome thinking of what can I have a Pokemon do that doesn't involve battling or contest stuff. But I like the chapter, and I hope you do too.**

 **So, Yancy's third Pokemon is a Vulpix, something I wanted to give her since the start. It was one of my first choices as her starter, but I eventually did give her one. Now, it comes up to this, what Pokemon should I give her in the future? I want to slide in for giving Ash a Dratini, but based on how he's framed by the character of Red, I don't want to give him any Pokemon outside the 3 starters, Espeon, Lapras, Snorlax and the one and only Pikachu. So, should I give Yancy a Dratini? Or should I make a slight change in my plans and give Ash a Dratini? Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments.**

 **Now, I will take a little time off to shed some light on some stuff in the real life. My hobbies include watching videos on Youtube, and I ran into this amazing Channel called Devin Supertramp. You should really check it out, it's like, an adventure extreme sports stuff, filmed by a group of people travelling around the world and working with many famous companies to make videos. Its amazing and I like it, a lot.**

 **So that's enough for me, running out of time you see. The next update will be for the Dragon King, perhaps in 2 to 3 days.**

 **Till then, this is Omnipotent97 signing off.**


	11. Lavender Tower-Celadon City-Hideout

**Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon, it belongs to Game Freak, Ken Sugimori and Satoshi Taijiri.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Pokédex._

Chapter 11- Lavender tower-Celadon city- Team Rocket hideout.

Lavender town was quite possibly the smallest town in the entire of Kanto; even pallet had a larger area when compared to Lavender town. It only had a couple hundred residents, and not all that much attraction. However, one thing Lavender town was famous for would be the Pokémon tower.

The main purpose of the tower was it was made as a gravesite for all Pokémon. As such, it wasn't a surprise when rumours of ghosts that haunt the people visiting the tower started to travel across the entire region. However, Ash and his friends weren't here to find out whether there were real ghosts in the tower or not. No, they were here to find more about an old man that supposedly went in the tower, and hadn't come back, for 2 to 3 days.

" _My grandpa has been in there for 2 days._ " The little girl said with tears in her eyes. " _You are strong trainers; can you please check on him and tell him to come down?_ "

And it turned out that Ash was a complete softy when it came to children, especially little girls that pleaded to him with tears in their eyes. So he, without thinking of his own personal safety, entered the tower one morning, with a slightly hesitant Brock and an extremely scared Yancy. Pikachu, like Ash, wasn't scared and was looking around the place excitedly, ears occasionally twitching, hoping for a battle. The Pokémon tower was also known for its Ghost type Pokémon. Brock, once he entered, was much more confident, and was looking at the various graves surrounding them, and Yancy, she was shivering badly.

"A Ash." She whimpered out, clenching her Vulpix, who wanted to stay out for the day, closer to her chest. "A are you sure we should be here, l like, can't we leave this to someone who is bigger?"

"Officer Jenny is not available right now." Ash answered back, not fazed by the creepy mist surrounding them, nor the channelers chanting some sort of prayer around them, the graves that littered around the place. "And I am not going to let that girl cry more."

"B but, but..." She whispered out the last part. "I'm scared."

"... Hold my hand." Ash said, without realising what he had said. "You want split up then and you won't need to be scared."

"W W What?!" She almost shouted out, her face going pink as her hair. "H Hold your hand?"

"Yes." Ash said, raising his arm towards Yancy. She blushed and looked at the offered hand. Vulpix shuffled in her grasp and sat on her shoulder like Pikachu usually sat, and urged her to hold his hand. Gulping, she clasped her hand with his, and intertwined their fingers. He clenched back, giving a relieving squeeze. She sighed, looking on with pink dusted cheeks and avoiding his glance.

Brock sneaking removed his Pokégear and snapped a picture, saving it for later. He had an evil smile on his face.

'The 2 of them don't realise what sort of teasing awaits them in the future. Maybe I should send this to Miss Delia as well?' Brock wondered, remembering the conversation he had had with Delia Ketchum one day about Ash and Yancy's relationship. The trio continued on ahead towards the inner part of the tower, where the staircase was at.

Walking in misty darkness wasn't his favourite thing to do, from now on, Ash realised. The dense fog around them was completely obstructing their view. The small candle lit lanterns weren't enough for them to see in front of them. And they weren't allowed to carry their flashlight because it was prohibited inside the Pokémon tower, something about letting the dead rest or something like that.

"Hey, there are the stairs." Ash pointed to the staircase that had appeared in front of him. "Didn't the girl say to wear those glasses now near the stairs? The 'ghost' usually appears around the stairs."

"They aren't exactly normal glasses." Brock removed the pair given to him. "But according to the girl, this thing will identify what the Ghost is supposed to be."

"Is it really necessary for us to meet the ghost?" Yancy asked, putting on her own set, and quickly clenching Ash's hand again. "I mean, can't we just ignore him or something like that?"

"Well, we aren't going to meet the ghost as per say." Brock said, nervously chuckling. "The ghost is going to meet us."

"I find this more comforting and clear than my normal vision." Ash said as he looked around with the goggles he had worn. "The ghost will be coloured in red wouldn't it? I can't wait to see the ghost; I have never seen one before."

"Ash, I really don't understand why you want to meet a ghost anyway." Brock said, clearly nervous of what was to come. "But I think it's too late to ponder that, because, well... I It's standing right in front of you."

According to the goggles, there was a mass of red coloured gas, with shining eyes, in front of them, glaring at the trio. Brock and Yancy screamed and even Ash yelped a little, Pikachu jumping off his shoulder and in front of them, sparking his cheeks and growling. The form of the Ghost changed shape and it turned into a Pokémon, a brown coloured Pokémon with a skull for a head and a large bone with it.

 _Marowak, the bone keeper Pokémon. Even though small, this Pokémon has exceptional offenses and defences. It has grown tougher over the years, getting over the loss of its mother and forming an unbreakable temperament and will. This Marowak is on level 30._

"H How does a ghost have a level?!" Yancy whimpered, her face hidden behind Ash's back, arms around his back as well. Brock somehow managed to retain his usual stoic persona, but one could see the sweat pouring off of him. "G get rid of it please!"

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash said to his Pikachu. However, something weird happened. The Thunderbolt didn't affect the Marowak; instead, it went straight through it. Ash's eyes widened in realisation, "This things a real ghost...but that's not possible. There has to be something else!"

He glanced around in the room, and his eyes narrowed down as he spotted another red coloured mass.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt once again! This time, use it on your right!" Pikachu unleashed a torrent of electricity, this time towards where Ash had pointed. A blur rushed out of the corner, the Marowak vanishing as another Pokémon came up in front of them. The Pokémon was completely made out of gas, with its main body being a darker shade of purple then its outer layer. It had 2 eyes, a large tongue and was grinning at them.

 _Ghastly, a gas Pokémon. Ghastly is made completely out of gas, which is a sleep inducing agent. If this Pokémon covers a target with its body, the target will fall unconscious within seconds. This Ghastly is on level 30._

"So it was a Ghastly all along!" Brock said, relieved. But the Marowak reappeared again, making Brock go on guard, again. "On shit!"

Yancy was too frightened to even look up, even when the Pokédex chanted out what was causing the trouble, and it was a good thing, because the 'ghost' had reappeared again. Instead, she only pressed herself further into Ash's back.

"..." Ash didn't speak, just stared at the Pokémon and the ghost. The Ghastly was grinning at them, and Marowak stood still behind them. "Why are you doing this?"

Marowak said some words, and Pikachu replied back, clearly not afraid of anything. Then Pikachu gave on the message to Ash.

"... The old man?" Ash asked, an eyebrow raised. Both Pikachu and Marowak nodded. "The old man is up in the tower and hasn't arrived back at home for 2 days. His granddaughter pleaded us to go and get him back home."

The Marowak didn't say one thing to him, and nodded at Ghastly, who grinned widely. Its eyes flashed, and the Marowak disappeared, along with Ghastly.

"Man that was something." Brock sighed, wiping his face. "So what was the story? Why did Ghastly cause the spirit of the dead Marowak to turn into a Ghost?"

"Her child." Ash said, climbing up the stairs. "She was here because she was worried for her child, and the man we are supposed to find knows this child of her's. He usually brings news about the child whenever he visits the tower, that is every day, but for 2 days he hasn't so she has taken to terrorising people to see if the old man will notice or not."

"B But doesn't she know what sort of problems she is causing?" Yancy, once she heard the ghost was gone, unwrapped herself from behind Ash(Though she refused to let his hand go) stuttered out, still afraid of her encounter with the ghost. "A And can we please finish this soon?! I want to get out of here right now!"

Ash and Brock agreed with her, and increased their pace to climb up the tower. On the top floor, the old man was standing, however, he wasn't alone. With him were some people, people dressed in all black with large red R's on their chests.

"Team Rocket!" Brock exclaimed, gaining all the attention to them. "What are you doing here?"

"A bunch of brats?" The one appearing the head questioned. "Shoo, go away, you don't need to be involved into this."

"Not until you let the man go." Ash said sternly, removing a Pokéball. "Ivysaur, I choose you!"

"Che, take care of the other 2, leave the freaky one to me." The 'boss' said, releasing his own Pokémon, a Raticate. "Raticate, use bite!"

"Ivysaur, dodge it, and use Vine Whip!" Ivysaur moved out of the way the last second, and slammed his whips onto the side of the rat Pokémon, causing it to cry in pain. "Now use Razor leaf!"

"Ivysaur!" Ivysaur cried out as he let loose some leaves from his sides, slashing the Raticate up. "Now use Grass Pledge to finish it!"

This time, the number of leaves were a lot more, enough to knock out the Raticate. For someone who talked so much, they were sure weak, because Brock and Yancy also had taken down their opponents with their Rhyhorn and Vulpix respectively.

"Grr, we won't forget this!" The Team Rocket grunts shouted, calling back their Pokémon and running away. "We won't forget this humiliation!"

Once they left, they saw the Old Man, almost knocked out, with bags under his eyes, starving and thirsty. Quickly, they rushed to him and made sure he was alive.

* * *

"Thank you kids for getting me out of there." It turned out the man was only hungry and a little dehydrated. They were all in his home, a small Pokémon orphanage where he lived with his granddaughter. "I am Fuji, an ex-Pokémon researcher. Those guys in black dresses were asking me questions about what was inside the hidden closet on the top of the Pokémon tower, and I refused to answer solely because I didn't know what was inside."

"The hidden Closet?" the 3 asked, not remembering to see any closet in the Pokémon tower.

"It's on the top floor, just behind the main pyre. People say that in ancient times, a man appeared, a man of supernatural origin. He had blue eyes and he could shoot spheres out of his hands. No one knew what his origin was other than the fact he kept something inside the closet of the tower, and sealed the closet with a lock so great no weapon in this world can break. Even the walls of the closet are so tough to break down, even with today's technology." The old man explained. "But enough of that, I am happy you got me out of there and saved my life. You can take this as a token of my appreciation."

He handed over a small flute like object, a flute with a Pokéball on top.

"Isn't that a Pokéflute?" Brock asked, peering over the flute in Ash's hands. "It is said to be able to wake up any Pokémon in the midst of battle or normal."

"Yup, I found this back when I was still in my younger days." Mr. Fuji said, smiling nostalgically. "It will be of much use to you now."

"Thank you for this Mr. Fuji." Ash thanked him, keeping the flute safe in his bag. "Now, we must go."

"Yeah, if we want to make it to the underground tunnels by tomorrow, we need to leave as soon as possible." Yancy nodded, getting up. She had a slight change in her outfit now, instead of the usual white dress shirt and an inner dress, she wore a sky blue coloured tank top and a green coloured skirt, with a red belt, and a cross bag slung across her shoulder. She had gotten a good amount of money by winning the musical, and also by coming up as the runner up to the one in vermilion, and didn't exactly have to work under a budget. "And I don't think Ash would want to miss any time he can get for training."

"Yeah." Brock nodded. Ash had his egg in his hands. "Well Mr. Fuji, we will see you again hopefully."

"Of course, but before you go." The man said, his face turning into a frown. "You see, the closet inside of Pokémon tower had a key. If you can find that key, there's a chance you will get to find out what is inside the closet. If you ever run into a golden coloured key with a Pokéball on top of it, please get it to me, we will open up the closet."

"Sure." Ash nodded, walking out of the house. Now with Lavender town behind them, the group of three had to make their way towards Celadon City, where Ash's 4th gym badge awaited. But with the recent activities of Team Rocket, was the trip to Celadon going to be so quiet and simple?

Probably not.

* * *

"Alright Squirtle!" Now that he had the green light from Nurse Joy, he could officially start the training of Squirtle. And already, in 2 days, he had levelled up from a measly level 3 to a good level 15, training with Ash's Ivysaur and Charmeleon as his training partners. Pikachu was a bit too much for him because, let's face it, at Level 36, Pikachu was Ash's strongest Pokémon as per now, and even Charmeleon, a close second to Pikachu on Level 32 had problems facing Pikachu on a straight on battle, in fact, in the time he had been in Ash's team, he had never beat Pikachu. But that was for another time. The time right now was for Squirtle to train. "Use Water Gun on that rock over there!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle took a deep breath, and let loose a burst of water on the rock in front of him. The rock didn't stand a chance as it was cracked into small dust particles. "Squirtle! Squirtle Squirt!"

"Good Job, now use Bite!" Opening it's Jaw as wide as it could, a shroud of a mouth appeared where the broken rock once was, and chomped down, hard, causing the already shattered rock to shatter more. "Great Squirtle! You are doing amazing."

"Squritle!" Squirtle cheered, and joined his friends in their playing. Once the training for the day was over, they could move on to the other part of the day almost all of them loved, dinnertime. Ash sighed, and removed his cap, throwing it into his tent, his hair moving slightly with the wind. On the other side of the camp, Yancy was training, with her Vulpix, trying to find out what she was capable of in a Musical. Till now, Vulpix had tried many things. Singing, which she failed at, Dancing, which was a big no and painting, which she had a surprisingly good talent at, something due to her being an extremely smart race of Pokémon. And up till now, she had created many master pieces, one was of Squirtle shooting a Water Gun, another of Ash and Pikachu, with the latter on the former's shoulder as he commanded his Pokémon to use a move and one of Brock making lunch as well. Strangely, Yancy's picture was nowhere to be seen, something he was surprised off because he thought Yancy's picture would be the first one she would make.

Unknown to any of them, Yancy had taken away her picture as soon as possible, and kept it away from prying eyes as it was of her and Ash holding hands in the Pokémon Tower, something which she was still embarrassed off.

Summary of the past 2 days, Ash, Yancy and Brock, along with their Pokémon and Ash's egg, left towards Celadon city, or more like, the underground tunnel in route 8. They could have had made it today, but they were forced to take shelter in the midst of route 8 when rain suddenly poured out of nowhere upon them, and continued to pour like crazy for 2 to 3 hours, and then they had to wait for another hour for everything to dry up before they could leave, and by then, it was already reaching evening. And they were once again delayed in the morning where none of them could wake up, waking up 2 hours later than usual, at 0800 instead of 0600. For the first time in their 2 months of travelling, Ash woke up the latest.

"We are travelling a day behind schedule." Ash said, noticing the date on his Pokégear. "If not for today morning, we would have been in Celadon by now."

"Well, sometimes plans never work out the way they are supposed to. Remember the time when we were going to Vermilion city, when we were late by an hour or so because of me capturing my Rhyhorn?" Brock said. "It's like this. First we had the rain yesterday, and today we were getting late due to oversleeping. But its okay, you know. Not like we are on a schedule exactly, just some probable calculations we make."

"You have a point there." Ash nodded, sitting down on the table. "Squirtle is making good progress, I think a week to 10 days more and he will be on the level of the others."

"That's good. My own Pokémon are doing great in their training." Brock said, looking at his Pokémon that were playing with Ash's. "Can't believe Onix is on level 32 now."

When Ash and Yancy did their own training, so did Brock. Even though his dream wasn't to do something that involved sheer level spamming, nothing better that training a Pokémon to level 100, was there?

"So Ash, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Brock asked once he finished whatever he was making for dinner tonight. "I mean, if we leave at our usual time at 8 in the morning, we will reach Celadon just by lunchtime, if I remember, route 7 is a very short route and hardly should take us an hour to pass through. I still don't know why Saffron and Celadon aren't considered sister cities when there's such a small distance between them, literally the smallest I have seen between 2 cities."

"You have a point there. And as for what I am going to do, well, I was thinking to visit the Celadon city supermarket to check out for the new Pokéballs that have come out." Ash, who was sitting on the inflatable chairs they had set up, while reading a magazine he had picked up, said, showing him the page. It was of a tall building and then a lot of other stuff available inside of it. "Maybe get a new bag and travelling kit as well. I have money to spend, and saved the major part of the rewards for beating the gyms and the other trainers here and there for this particular moment."

"Yeah, maybe it's finally time I invest on a Pokégear as well." Brock said, looking at Ash's own red and white one longingly. "It will be better for me that way, and a new set of equipment doesn't sound bad."

"What are you guys talking about?" Yancy, who had just finished her training, called out for her Pokémon to let them play with Ash's and Brock's, joined the 2. "I heard something about a supermarket."

"In Celadon city, there's a large supermarket where you will find anything you want to. I and Ash were wondering what to do with the saved up money we had from battles and such. Ash says he wants to buy some advanced Pokéballs and new travelling gear while I want to get a Pokégear and some other equipment. What about you Yancy? You want something?"

"Well, a new bag **does** sound like a good idea." She winced as she looked at her old and stinky bag. "It's been ages since I changed that one. And I think I want something to highlight my Pokémon during the musicals as well."

"That's a good idea actually, I have read a lot about musicians dressing up their Pokémon for more points, especially in the first round." Ash nodded, flipping a few pages and showing a particular article about a certain part of Celadon city where they did such things. "But from what I have read, these people are either drop-out breeders looking for a quick way to earn reputation and money, so they basically pour make-up upon make-up on your Pokémon which the Nurse Joys say isn't good for them and such. But I have heard about a certain breeder in Celadon city as well."

"Yeah, you mean Suzie don't you?" A dreamy look appeared on Brock's face. "Sh She's my idol, and someone who I want to be like~~~"

Ash and Yancy looked at Brock oddly as he sighed dreamily, but chose not to ponder. Better for their 10 year old minds like that.

* * *

"Whoa~~~" Yancy said in childlike awe as they entered Celadon city. Being one of the biggest cities in the region, and the most popular one for shopping as well, it clearly was enough to excite children, especially like Yancy who had lived in a forest for most of her life. "It's so big!"

"Yeah..." Even Ash couldn't help but contain his excitement as the trio entered the city from its eastern entrance. The Pokémon centre was not even 10 meters away, literally the first building of the city. "Let's check into the Pokémon centre first, drop our bags, and then leave."

And that is what they did. Ash decided to take his egg with him this time, in its incubator of course, and left all his other stuff, except his Pokémon, Pikachu in his usual position on his shoulder. The first thing they did was head to the supermarket building, especially because all of them had heard so much about it.

The 3 split up, deciding to go on their own way to buy what they needed for personal use and then buy the other public stuff. So here was Ash, standing against the glass that held the Pokéballs inside, all sorts of them. From the normal Pokéball, to the stronger Great Ball, and even an Ultra Ball!

"Can I help you young man?" The man on the counter said to him with a smile. "You look like a trainer, do you need anything?"

"Yes, I would like 5 Pokéballs, 5 Great balls and 2 Ultra Balls, please." Ash said, removing his Pokédex out. The shopkeeper picked a bag, and scooped in the things he needed.

"That will be 6900P$ please." Ash handed him his Pokédex, where in the bottom there was a slot for the credit transfer. The man attached a wire to it, and typed the number on the computer the wire was attached to. There was a soft beep before his Pokédex was returned to him. "Thank you for shopping, have a good day."

Taking his stuff with him, he left for the next thing he needed, bags. And apparently, Pikachu had other ideas about him buying a similar red coloured bag.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu was pointing to the bag on his side, a small yet spacious, durable yet flexible, red and blue coloured bag, but what Pikachu was more concerned about was the Pikachu face that was attached to its outside in a golden coloured embroidery. It looked extremely fantabulous, and was a good fit for him, but Ash had his doubts. "Pika Pika!"

"Are you sure?" Ash asked, taking another look over the bag. It sure had many columns, a different slot for his travel items and personal items, and a special slot for electronics as well. Taking one last look, he figured why not, and took it with him in his purchase bag. Keeping it in his bag, he went towards the adventure section of the store, to buy some stuff he needed, and ran into Yancy. "Yancy?"

"EEP!" Yancy, who was trying to do something or the other, shrieked in surprise, and hid whatever she had found behind her. "A Ash, h he hey, I didn't expect to run into you here!"

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked in concern. He felt a sense of responsibility to Yancy because he was the one that convinced her to tag along with him. "And what are you hiding behind your back?"

"O Oh, I it's nothing." Her face had gone absolutely red. "I am just g getting something for me that's all."

"..." He simply stared at her with narrowed eyes, causing her to squirm under his gaze, but he then sighed. "Well, carry on then, just shout out to me if you need help, I am just across buying some rope and other hiking stuff."

She nodded, and ran off. Ash caught a glimpse of something blue in colour, but he shrugged it off, going back to his shopping. After a day full of shopping, the three met in the cafeteria section of the mall to grab some food.

"You brought an orange and green coloured one?" Ash asked Brock, watching as he was fiddling with his Pokégear, doing something or the other. "That's fitting actually, with your orange coloured vest and all."

"It's a way to mark mine off from yours so we don't keep on getting confused." Brock said, closing it off. "There, all set. I have all the numbers I need stored in here. What about you Yancy, did you get a Pokégear?"

"No, I am not that good with technology." Yancy said, slumping over in depression while Ash and Brock sweat dropped. She couldn't even switch the channels of the TV with the remote control, and the first time she saw an ATM machine, she almost passed out from confusion. Luckily, Ash and Brock did everything they could to rectify that problem. "But I did get a fame checker."

"A fame checker?" Ash and Brock asked, surprised. A fame checker was what its name suggested it to be, a device made to check somebody's fame. Like the Gym Leader or something like that. It could be handy at times, but Ash liked to walk in without any prior knowledge about his opponents Pokémon, or the fun would be removed of it. "That's unusual."

"I am not like Ash, not that strong, and personally speaking, I like to be informed about my opponents beforehand." Yancy said, opening the fame checker and pointing it at Ash. "Let's see here... hey, you have a profile!"

" _Pokémon Trainer Red._ " All three of them raised an eyebrow at that. He hadn't chosen a nickname for him yet, so why? " _From Pallet, is known to be a prodigy in the art of Pokémon training since he hasn't lost a single Gym battle yet._ "

"Huh, didn't know you already chose a screen name." Brock asked Ash, who was as confused as Brock and Yancy. "Or you didn't?"

"I did not, but I know who did it." Ash sighed. "I think it was Mom who told Professor Oak to do that."

"A Screen Name?" Yancy asked, curious to know about something she didn't know about. "What is that?"

"A screen name is usually chosen by Pokémon trainers, celebrities or even normal people who are well known to crowds and masses to hide their personal details." Ash said. "My mother had one, it was Lilith, yeah, weird, I know, but she was a very well known trainer in her age, and people were afraid of her nasty temper. I don't remember my father's, but I think it was drake, because of his obsession with everything dragon like. Similarly, many people in the world have a screen name. But for some strange region, the Elite Four and Champion seem to abandon their screen names. Weird, I know, but I guess that's the form of them getting true attention and respect."

"Yeah." Brock agreed, taking a sip of his Cold Coffee. "So what to do now? You going to challenge the gym tomorrow?"

"I would love to get a day worth of training first." Ash said, popping his back by stretching. "But for now though, I want to check out one more thing."

* * *

"The Game Corner?" Brock asked looking around in the place they were in. All around him, people were either playing on the machines or tables. Many kids were running around as well, playing by themselves in the Machines that allowed such kids to play. "But we need a coin case to play."

"And I happen to have one." Ash said, removing a coin case from his pocket. After putting away their newly brought supplies from the supermarket in their room back in the Pokémon centre, the 3 made their way to a building Ash wanted to go into, which happened to be the world famous Celadon city Game Corner. "I have heard you can get some good gifts if you win have enough coins on you, and I happen to have 100 coins with me. A man was going to throw it away, I bought it from him for 500 P$ and now, I think we can enjoy a few games."

"I always wanted to try the slots." Brock mused, sitting on one of the machines. Inserting some coins that Ash had given him into the machine, he swung the handle to start the spinning. Unfortunately, he won no coins, causing him to slump over. "Man, this could have gotten better."

"How do you play this game?" Yancy asked, scrunching her nose up cutely as she held a coin. "And are we supposed to play this?"

"This game happens to be a PG game, but because we both have our trainer cards, we can play this game." Ash said, looking over to her. "And as for how you play, well, first you insert the coin in there, 1 for a single middle row, 2 coins for all the rows, and 3 for the diagonal rows."

"So if I insert 3 coins..." She inserted 3 coins, and pulled the lever down, causing the rolls inside the glass cover to start spinning. They all stopped at a pattern of 3 same things in the middle. And Yancy had won 50 coins. "Whoa..."

"Wow Yancy, you are lucky today." Brock said as Yancy removed all the coins and added them inside the coin case that Ash had. It was Ash's turn to spin, and he landed 3 7's. "Bloody heck."

"Wow Ash!" Yancy exclaimed, looking as the 300 coins poured out from below. They played around the slots for a while, until something caught Ash's attention.

There were 3 guys, looking inconspicuous, but clearly were new because their red R's were sticking, as they were walking from the inner parts of the game corner towards the main gates. He nudged over to Brock, who also noticed the same thing.

"You checking inside?" Brock asked Ash, who nodded. Ash looked at Pikachu, who was trying his own luck, who looked up at him and grinned, jumping up on Ash's shoulder. "I and Yancy will check outside then."

Looking around to see if anyone was looking, Ash snuck inside the back of the Pokémon Game Corner, while Brock and Yancy got up, and followed the 3 rocket grunts that were walking outside.

The inner portion of the Game corner was much quiet and bland, with stark white walls and long hallways. What caught his eye was the poster stuck on the wall, of Pokémon musicals, and a suspicious looking nudge in the middle. Looking at Pikachu, who nodded, Ash pressed the switch. There was a soft click as a the area beside the switch opened up to show a small stairway. Looking around one last time, Ash went down the stairway into what was below.

He never noticed a figure with a red tint follow him.

* * *

"So what exactly are we doing Brock." Yancy whispered to the older teen, both of them along with Yancy's meowth and Brock's Geodude hidden behind a building following the 3 suspicious grown men. "Why are we following them? And why isn't Ash with us?"

"They are from team rocket, and Ash isn't with us because he is going to find out why these guys came out from behind the hallways of the game corner." Brock whispered back, slowly moving to hide behind another corner. "Possibly a base of sorts."

"So we are catching the bad guys?" Yancy asked. Brock sighed, but nodded. Yancy smiled at that. "I love catching bad guys!"

* * *

"Who would have thought that there was such a big base inside?" Ash muttered to himself. The second he entered he knew this was a Team Rocket Base because of the large R's stuck in the walls of the base. "And who exactly is leading Team Rocket? I admit, this is pretty sick, but I am even more astounded no one has ever found out about the base."

"Hey, who are you?!" A man in a grunt shouted at him. "How did you get in here kid?!"

"..." Ash stared at the man, his eyes glinting. "Thunder wave."

Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and shot a small bolt of electricity towards the grunt, causing the man to crumble onto the floor in a sparking heap.

"Damn... you!" the man hissed out as he was shuddering on the ground. "H How the fuck does a kid have such guts?!"

"Where is your boss?" Ash asked the man. However, what the man saw wasn't simply a 10 year old boy asking him something, no, he saw a red eyed _creature_ behind the boy, glaring into his eyes, daring to try and stay silent. "And how do I get there?"

"I In the 4th floor!" The man grit out, partly in fear, partly in pain. "But first you need to get the key card for the lift!"

"And where do I get it?" Ash asked once again, the 'creature' behind him narrowing his eyes, or at least to the man.

"Guh, on the 3rd floor!" The man blurted before passing out in fear. Ash started to walk towards the way where he saw the stairs at, ducking behind a garbage bin to avoid the gaze of a grunt that was near the vending machines. Who knew criminal organization bases were so well equipped?

Dashing when the man wasn't looking, he went down the stairs, and came into another room, similar to the one above. On his right was the lift, and on his left were some strange tiles, with arrows on them. They were green colored. Looking at Pikachu, who nodded, he stepped on one tile, and was surprised to feel himself drag forward onto another, and another, through various routes until he reached a particular tile, yellow in colour. Now, he was faced with many different routes. After a while of going on tiles and trying again and again, he finally made it to a small office like place, where on the table he could see a card with a red R on it. Quickly deducing it to be the key card, he went forward to pick it up, but was stopped.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?!" A grunt shouted from behind him. Turning around, he saw the grunt, with his Pokémon, a small blob of purple coloured toxic sludge, Grimer. "Grimer, show the kid what happens when you peep into adult business, use Sludge!"

"Pikachu, counter it with Thunderbolt!" Ash said. "And then use quick attack to get behind Grimer and use Iron Tail!"

"Pika!" Pikachu used his thunderbolt to counter the ball of poison shot at him, before vanishing and reappearing behind the Grimer, smashing an iron tail on top of it, knocking it out instantly. However, Ash's eyes widened up.

"Pikachu, jump in the air, quick!" Pikachu jumped to narrowly avoid being trampled over by a Pokémon which had purple coloured skin, and was on all four of his legs. "…"

"I am impressed you managed to spot that." The grunt had a sneer on his face. "But this isn't going to be easy. Now that you are in the air, you won't be able to move! Nidorino, use Poison sting!"

"Pikachu, use Iron tail on those needles to block it!" Pikachu swiped his metallic tail to stop the poisonous needles from harming it, since Steel was resistant to Poison. Pikachu landed safely on the ground, and went on all 4's, cheeks sparking in anticipation.

 _Nidorino, the poison pin Pokémon. Its horn is harder than diamonds, and is extremely powerful. This Nidorino is on level 25._ _ **Warning. This Nidorino has the ability Poison Point. If a Pokémon or a human touches this Nidorino, they will be poisoned.**_

Ash narrowed his eyes. A Poison type, quite possibly one of the most dangerous types to face in battle without a psychic or a ground type, and he didn't have any of them. But that didn't mean Pikachu was going to lose this.

"Pikachu, make sure not to touch Nidorino without Iron Tail on!" Ash shouted out to Pikachu. "Thunderbolt, now!"

"Pikachuu!" Pikachu let loose a stronger bolt of electricity onto Nidorino, who grunted, but survived the onslaught of electricity.

"It's not going to be that easy!" The grunt shouted. "Nidorino, horn attack!"

"Dodge it!" Pikachu jumped to the side to dodge the incoming Nidorino, his horn aimed straight for him. "Now use Quick Tail!"

Quick Tail, when made, was as rough as his first ever combination move, Quick Break. A mixture of Iron Tail and Quick attack, this move was much tougher than Quick Break. At first, it was very rough and had a very low accuracy because of Pikachu not being experienced and used to carrying such his tail which had hardened over and weight a lot more than normal, and missed 8 out of 10 times. But now, with much more experience, he could deal considerable damage with the move. As such, it wasn't a surprise when Nidorino was knocked out easily from the move.

"WHAT?!" The grunt shouted in dis-belief, slowly backing up. "Y Y Y YOU MONSTER!"

And with that, he escaped, not caring what happened to his Pokémon. Luckily, he had dropped the Pokéballs of his Pokémon, so Ash could return it back to the wild. Picking up the Card Key, he pocketed it, along with the Pokéballs and left towards the lift on the 3rd floor.

* * *

"Brock, how much longer do we have to tail them?!" Yancy whispered/groaned to Brock, who ignored her and focused on the 3 Rocket Grunts in front of him. "We are almost out of the city!"

"I know, and now we will confront them." Brock said, getting out of his hiding spot. "Hey, you, you're Team Rocket Grunts aren't you? What are you doing here?!"

"Oh no, 2 brats followed us!" one of the grunts shouted, calling out for a Pokéball. "Go Koffing!"

"I chose you Bellsprout!"

"Gloom Let's go!"

3 Pokémon, 1 a koffing, the other one a yellow coloured Venus fly trap like Pokémon and finally a small weed like Pokémon with a brown coloured 'flower' on top of it appeared in front of them.

"Geodude, time for battle, I chose you, Zubat!"

"Go Cleafable!"

Yancy and Brock sent out their own Pokémon for battle.

"Koffing, Smoke Screen!" The grunt with the koffing ordered his Pokémon. Koffing released a lot of smoke out from its holes, covering the area in thick and dense smoke.

"Not so Fast, use Gust Zubat!" Zubat flapped its wings harder and harder until it created a large gust of wind that cleared up all the Smoke. "Now use Air Cutter on Gloom! Geodude, you use rollout on Bellsprout!"

"Cleafable, use Flamethrower on Koffing!" Yancy pointed towards Koffing. Now, even if Yancy wasn't focusing on Battling, it didn't mean she didn't train her Pokémon. Her Meowth was on a respectful level of 28, which though not that great for someone on Ash's level, it was still good enough for a kid that didn't know the names of all 151 Pokémon in the Kanto region until 3 months ago. The flamethrower was powerful enough to burn Koffing. "Good Job Cleafable, now use Mega Punch!"

Another thing her Pokémon had taken to was to learn some moves from Ash's and Brock's Pokémon. While training by themselves, Meowth and Cleafable went to Pikachu or Charmeleon or Onix for some tips on how to strengthen their attacks, or how to raise their endurance and defense.

Koffing didn't stand a Chance as the Cleafable knocked it out easily. On the other side of the battle, Brock had just finished his opponents himself.

"So, now, tell us what you are doing here?!" Brock demanded of them. The three looked at each other and nodded, turning around and breaking for a sprint, dashing into the wilderness. Yancy looked ready to run back, but Brock stopped her.

"Come on, we have to follow them!" Yancy exclaimed. "We can't let them go now!"

"It's of no use, they are masters in escaping." Brock said with a sneer. "All of the villains are like that."

"Alright, as you say." Yancy looked downtrodden. "Now I think we should go and help Ash."

"If I know him, he would have finished his stuff already and would be in the Pokémon centre waiting for us." Brock said, turning around and walking back into the city. "We need to go back, that was the initial plan."

* * *

These grunts were annoying. They didn't have the power to back up their bites, and their Pokémon though tough for them, weren't for him. Walking inside the final gate in which the boss was probably sitting, he stepped inside and came face to face with the mastermind of the plan.

The man had short hair, very short, with a round face. His eyes were brown, like him, and he looked a lot like the stereotypical movie Villain. His choice of attire was an orange coloured suit, with a red R on his chest.

"Greetings." The man had a grin on his face, an evil grin. "You must be Red from Pallet town."

"..." Ash stared at the man, his red eyes narrowing down at the man in front of him.

"Now now, don't need to be surprised, I am the boss of a criminal organisation, I should know about those who oppose me." The man grinned wider. "I am Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, and you, young man, have been a big thorn on my side, stopping my men in the Viridian City Pokémon centre, the Mt. Moon, The and also in the Pokémon tower. I will give you this warning boy, leave us alone, and I will not have you and your friends killed off."

"..." Ash only snarled at him, removing a Pokéball. "Never."

"I see, I was expecting that." Giovanni sighed, and removed his own Pokéball. "Let's see who the better one is. Let's go, Nidorina!"

"Charmeleon." Ash released his Charmeleon for battle. The Criminal Boss's eyes widened in interest.

"Ahh, I see, so you have this one." Giovanni said. "I will be taking him off your hands too, it was a pain to make this one."

"... What do you mean?" Ash asked, confused. Charmeleon himself was confused, but this man seemed familiar for some reason. "How do you know my Charmeleon?"

"Oh, yours? So you caught it? Now that is interesting. You see, I had this Pokémon experimented on." Giovanni said with a very twisted grin. "I wanted him to be a Pokémon that could even rival the legends, but unfortunately, it escaped. Now I think I can start this plan again."

"I am not giving you Charmeleon, or any of my Pokémon!" Ash shouted in anger. "Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

Charmeleon took a deep breath, and unleashed a torrent of blue flames on Nidorina, who surprisingly survive the attack.

"Nidorina, Sludge Bomb!" Nidorina spat out a large glob of poison, much more dangerous than any faced before.

"Use Dragon Rage to counter it!" Charmeleon spat out his own long ranged attack, a purple colour blob of draconic energy, the 2 attacks meeting in the middle with a loud and large explosion. "Now Metal Claw, go!"

"Fury Swipes!" Giovanni called out. Both the claws met each other as the 2 Pokémon duelled it out. "Now use Poison Sting!"

"Not so fast! Iron tail!" Charmeleon was much faster than Nidorina, and slammed his tail with a metallic sheen on top of Nidorina, stopping it from unleashing it's move. "Now use Dragon Rage once again!"

This time, the Dragon Rage was a direct hit, being a critical hit to Nidorina, causing her to stumble on her steps. Giovanni growled.

"Nidorina, use Water Pulse." Ash widened his eyes. "Now!"

The Water Pulse was also fast moving hitting Charmeleon straight on, being super effective on Charmeleon. Giovanni smirked as he knew the tables were turned.

"Well then Red, let's finish this. Nidorina, use Fury Swipes!" The Nidorina was getting closer, and Charmeleon couldn't do anything but watch. Ash's eyes widened in horror, and he called out to Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, I know you have it in you, stop that Nidorina!" He looked back into the Red eyes of his trainer, and grinned. A blue inferno encased him, the flame on his tail going much larger and wider, and his eyes narrowed down to slits. Taking a deep breath, he roared, scaring the Nidorina and to an extent, even Giovanni as the Charmeleon unleashed it's full power. Ash's Pokédex dinged.

 _Charmeleon has activated his ability Blaze. It allows all fire types to gain a boost in attack and special attack when in tough situations._

Ash grinned at that, and glared at Giovanni, who looked effectively nervous.

"Charmeleon!" Ash called out. "Finish this, Flamethrower!"

This time, Nidorina didn't stand a chance. The blue coloured inferno of flames was incredibly powerful and it got knocked out within a second.

"Well done, Red." Giovanni regained his smirk. "But tell me, is defeating me, or rather, one of my Pokémon enough to stop me?"

Ash's danger senses literally skyrocketed as he knew something was wrong. Pikachu cried out for Ash, and so did Charmeleon. Looking to the side, he saw the cat like Pokémon, with long claws and cream skin, ready to gauge his eyes out.

"Dragonite, Dragon Claw!" However, it seemed someone had a different idea. A claw full of draconic energy slammed into the incoming Persian, sending it to Giovanni, who looked shocked at the appearance of the light orange coloured dragon type Pokémon. A man walked out of the shadows. He was wearing a full body outfit, with the outer edges black in colour and the inner edges red. A long red cloak hung behind him, and he had spiky red hair. Everyone knew who this trainer was. "Tell me, Giovanni, wasn't it? You might have given this boy a challenge, and also lost to him. Without a doubt he can improve, but even you know you won't be able to beat him when that Charmeleon is in that state. And with me here, I doubt you can take both of us on at the same time."

"Lance Wataru." Giovanni growled out. "Leader of the Kanto Elite Four, high tier member of the Pokémon G-men."

"..." Ash only stared at the man in slight awe.

"Give up, leader of team Rocket, you have gone without punishment for far too long." Lance said, coming to a standstill beside Ash. "Perhaps we might not shift you to the most dangerous and brutal of all prisons."

"You, catch me that will be a day I don't think will ever happen." Giovanni sneered one last time, before dropping an object on the ground. There was a large burst of smoke, causing both Ash and Lance to cover their noses. Quickly acting, Dragonite flapped it's wings to create a small gust to clear the smoke, only to find Giovanni missing, along with his Pokémon. A golden coloured glint was where he was standing, which Pikachu chose to look at. It turned out to be a key.

"I expected this to happen." Lance sighed and looked at Ash and smiled. "So, Red wasn't it? Or was it Ash Ketchum? I have a lot to talk with you. How about we get out of here and meet up with your friends in the Pokémon centre?"

* * *

"Ash, I must say I am astounded with you improvement in 3 months worth of travelling." Lance said to the red eyed trainer after they all sat down in one of the tables in the Pokémon centre. Luckily, it was late at night so no one else was here, except the 4 and Nurse Joy. "For someone so young, it is very good. Anyways, before you ask me, let me explain something to you. Team Rocket as you know is a criminal organisation that is working against the rules of the Pokémon that we humans had set when the idea of Pokémon training came forward. I am a member of the Pokémon G-men, a very high levelled member as such, and have dedicated all my time ever since I found out about the existence of this group to eradicate it from the roots. In the previous year, I have visited to every single known area of their influence in both, this region, and Johto. Till now, I have no idea of who their boss was, why they operated, and what were their motives, until today when you met Giovanni."

The 3 listened to the elite four leader in silence, letting him speak as he said before.

"I admit, I am disappointed that we let him get away, but it seemed he was well prepared." Lance said, leaning back on his chair. "But that doesn't mean that I won't get any other chances. You, Ash, are the one that will give me those chances."

"Me?" Ash asked, eyebrows raised in curiousness. "But why me. I admit, these guys don't leave me alone for some reason, but all I want to do is complete my journey around Kanto and challenge the league."

"I know, and I am pretty sure you will be able to do it. What I am saying is, these guys won't leave you alone now that you are involved, and it seems that Giovanni himself was interested in you." Lance said. "Ash, you will need to face Giovanni when you meet him next time, and finish him once and for all. Leave what happens after that to me, I will take care of his capture, but I don't think I am going to be able to catch him on my own. Your friends will for sure help you with that."

"Yeah." Brock nodded. "We aren't leaving him alone in this."

Yancy smiled and nodded at him. Ash looked up at Lance, and nodded.

"I will fight him." Ash said, determined. "And stop him. What he is doing is very wrong, and he must be stopped once and for all. I agree to that."

"Thank you for that." Lance removed a card from his pocket and handed it to Ash. "There is an address where you can leave a message for me if you need me for something, and my Pokégear number. Feel free to contact me whenever you have some information on team rocket. And also, use your screen name from now on in battles and such, it will be of much help."

And with that, the legend left the Pokémon centre, leaving the 3 kids alone.

"So, Giovanni." Brock looked at Ash. "You are telling me the full story afterwards."

"You are going to use your screen name?" Yancy asked Ash, causing him to nod. "Then should I call you Red from now on?"

"Only in public, when someone is in earshot. When we are travelling or alone, you can call me by my name." Ash said, stretching. "Now I don't think I need to say we should sleep."

"Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a big day with your upcoming gym battle after all." Yancy nodded, and stretched. "Hey Ash, do you think that we will see more of Lance?"

"Definitely." Ash nodded. "Definitely yes. I have a feeling he is going to be an occasional run in."

How right he was going to be.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Author's notes- So sorry for the long wait. Been 2 weeks since I updated anything, and here it is, chapter 11 of Ash 'Red' Ketchum, and as you can see, the title is going to be much more effective from now.**

 **I said in the start that Red is Ash's game counterpart and reverse, I am going to make his real name be Ash Ketchum, while his more known name will be Red. So all you red fans, I hope this satisfies you to an extent.**

 **About Lance's interruption... let's say, that's a plot twist I added, one of the many I have planned. Speaking of Lance, I want to go with the elite four league route in this fic, and not the Pokémon league route, leave your comments if you want it to be a tournament. And I also will say one thing... Gary is not going to be the Champion of the Indigo Elite four if I do go through the elite four route, which is what I am going to do.**

 **Why? Well, I want him to hold a bigger part in this story, and like in the anime, I want him to be Ash's major rival in Johto as well, alongside silver if I introduce him. If he becomes champion, well, he won't be able to leave the region without business, and I don't want to shut Gary up completely. If you think that's a bad idea, tell me a good solid reason and I might change my mind, but that's going to be difficult. This is my story, and I intend to make it one of the greatest, even though it may not look like on right now.**

 **Also, thank you all for all the support you give me. PM me if you have any questions.**

 **Till then, this is Omnipotent97 signing off.**


	12. Celadon Gym-GS Ball-Amethyst Town

**Disclaimer- I don't own Pokemon, it is owned by Game Freak and Satoshi Taijiri and Ken Sugimori or any of the people who own a stake in the Pokemon Franchise.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Pokedex_

Chapter 12- Celadon Gym-Amethyst town.

"This will be a 3 on 3 battle between challenger Red from pallet town and Gym Leader Erica from Celadon city." The refree said, his hands raised towards each of them. It had been 2 days since his conversation with Lance and his encounter with Giovanni. 2 days of which he gave to training for his pokemon he was going to use in his gym. Only Ivysaur was the one who had learnt a new move he was trying to teach him, courtesy of Brock giving him a manual on teaching moves when they were back in vermilion, which would be very helpful against this particular gym. "Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon between battle. The challenger will have the first move. Trainers, please send out your Pokemon."

"Go Ivysaur!"

"Tangela, may you bring us victory!"

Erica was a young woman who wore a traditional kimono as her choice of attire. With short dark green hair with a red clip, she was definitely attractive, only though Ash wasn't attracted to her. Rumours said that most of the people that battled her usually were too taken over by her beauty to battle her properly.

 _Tangela, the vine pokemon. It's body is wrapped in vines. It's vine's snap off easily and are replaced the next day by newly grown vines. This tangela is a male and is on level 28._

Ash looked up from his Pokedex, his mind running with strategies.

'Well, Tangela is a pure grass type pokemon. So if everything goes according to plan, I might get an easy victory.' Ash said to himself. 'But I shouldn't underestimate it.'

"May the battle begin!" The referee declared, starting the battle.

"Alright Ivysaur, use Vine Whip!" From Ivysaur's sides, 2 vines were released, whipping their way towards Tangela.

"Don't think you can take down a Grass type expert with Grass type pokemon, Red." Erica said. "Tangela, use your own Vine Whip!"

2 of Tangela's vines extended as well, meeting Ivysaur's vines. However, that was what Ash wanted, kind off.

"Grab them!" Ash exclaimed. Ivysaur did as told and wrapped his vines around Tangela's, holding him in position. "Now Poison powder!"

"Oh no you don't." Erica said. "Tangela, use Shock wave through your Vines! If he is going to poison us, let us as well paralyse him!"

"What?" That threw Ash off guard. Shock Wave? He didn't even _know_ Tangela could learn Shock Wave! "How in the?"

"You think I haven't faced trainers who try to use the same strategy?" Erica asked with a smile on her face. She winced at Tangela getting poisoned, but watched in satisfaction as the Shock Wave travelling through the vines hit Ivysaur, causing it to cry out in pain and paralyse it. "Now Tangela, we have the speed boost! Use Hidden Power!"

From Tangela's eyes, 2 beams of reddish purple lights shot towards Ivysaur, hitting it straight on the face, causing it to cry out in pain and almost topple over.

"Wait, that did a lot more damage than expected." Ash muttered, looking at Ivysaur. "Was that Hidden Power Psychic type?"

"Of course it was." Erica answered him, folding her hands. "You think I haven't faced Poison types before Red? Of course I have. Don't think that just because you have the type advantage means you can win."

"I know." Ash smirked. "But you should listen to your own advice as well. Ivysaur, use Venoshock!"

"Huh?" Erica said in confusion. She hadn't even heard of that move. Was this kid insane. She was further surprised and even more worried when from Ivysaur's bud, a large amount of Poison shot off towards her Tangela, and even more so when Tangela screeched in pain and fell down to the ground. "What sort of a move was that?"

"Venoshock is a poison type move." Ash said, going back to his emotionless persona. "I happened to have taught it to Ivysaur using a manual on move tutoring my friend gave me. You see, when my opponent is poisoned, and I use Gunk Shot, it means that Gunk shot will do double the damage. Combined with the STAB I receive and the 2x super effective poison types moves are to your Tangela, it should be enough."

"Enough for what?" Erica said, and then she registered the fact that her Tangela was fallen over, swirls instead of eyes. Her own eyes widened. That boy had used Vine Whip to trap her, disregarding the effects, then used Poison Powder to set the field and finally used Venoshock to quite possibly do damage 5 times super effective. That was one destructive stratergy. "I don't believe it! You took Tangela down in one move!"

"Well, technically it isn't one move, counting Vine Whip and Poison Powder, it was 3, but if you talk about attacks, then yes, I didn." Ash said, nodding. The referee also broke out of his stupor, and raised his flag towards Ash.

"Tangela cannot battle. The winner of this round is Red and Ivysaur. Gym Leader Erica, please send out your next Pokemon." The referee said, raising his red flag towards Erica and the green one towards Ash.

"Wow, so that was what he and Ivysaur were trying to achieve with all that training with Charmeleon and Squirtle and Pikachu?" Yancy looked towards Brock for an explaination. "Now that was impressive if I should say."

"I admit, I learn something new every day." Brock said with a grin. "That was simply majestic! He not only used the type to his advantage, but also made a combination that could be a One Hit KO move against Grass types!"

"So I am guessing STAB means 'Same Type Attack Bonus'?" Yancy asked, looking back down on the field. "Hmm, maybe I can also get together a combination like that..."

"We will talk about that later, for now, just watch the match." Brock said to her, looking back down on the field. "This is going to get more exciting than it already is."

Back on the field, Erika called back her Tangela and removed another Pokemon. This one was shaped like a pitcher plant, or like an inverse bell. It's 'mouth', the outer ring was pink colour, with a leaf acting as a cover and a vine coming out of it. On it's base were 2 more leaves.

 _Victreebel, the flycatcher Pokemon. This pokemon lives deep in jungles, albeit no one has ever said to come out of them. This Victreebel is on level 32, and is a female._

"Let's battle, Victreebel." Erika called out to her Victreebel, who squeaked something out. Ivysaur was still paralysed, but it was still on full health. He would have to take the risk.

"Ivysaur, you want to continue?" An cry filled with approval was his answer, the 2 grass types glaring at each other. "Alright then."

"May the battle begin!" Immediately, Ash had Ivysaur use Razor leaf.

"Victreebel, use Leaf Tornado!" The leaves that came out of Victreebel's sides were faster and much more in amount, completely surpassing Ivysaur's Razor leaf, and hit him head on. Ivysaur however tanked it out. "Use Stock Pile!"

"Ivysaur, don't let it use that move! Use Venoshock!" He knew what Stockpile was. And if he knew what was coming, then he better not let Victreebel use that move. Unfortunately for Ivysaur though, he wasn't able to move, sparks appearing around him causing it to flinch and stop. "Damn it!"

"Now Victreebel, use Spit out!" That was bad. From her mouth, Victreebel let loose a white beam of energy that it had stored within. It was a direct hit, but much to Erika's surprise, Ivysaur didn't faint off the move. "I must say, your Ivysaur is definitely well trained to survive a Spit out and a Leaf tornado."

"I have trained him well enough to go up against Pokemon that are 2 times stronger than himself." Ash said confidently. "Alright Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder!"

"Don't think you will be able to take me off guard again, Red." Erika said. "Victreebel, Leaf Tornado once again!"

This time though, there was no survival for Ivysaur. The leaf tornado was too much, and Ivysaur fainted without doing any damage to Victreebel. It would have been much more effective if he wasn't paralysed, but he did his job.

"Good job Ivysaur." Ash sighed, returning the fainted Pokemon. "You did well. Go Charmeleon!"

Charmeleon appeared out on the ground with a roar. Victreebel didn't even flinch at seeing the fire type Pokemon.

"A fire type." Erika muttered in slight distaste. "That also such a weird looking one, I haven't seen a Charmeleon coloured that way, that also with blue flames. Interesting."

Upon the referee's approval, the battle began.

"Victreebel, use Toxic!" Victreebel let loose a large bubble of potent poison from her mouth, which luckily Charmeleon dodged. "Leaf Tornado!"

"I don't think so. Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

The Leaf Tornado stood no chance. It was burnt down to nothingness as the blue torrent of flames moved at a rapid pace towards Victreebel.

"Protect!" It however looked like Erika had an ace in the hole as well. A veil surrounded Victreebel, which blocked the incoming Flamethrower from hitting, giving Victreebel a chance in the battle. Ash however wasn't going to let it have the chance.

"Charmeleon, get in there and use Metal Claw!" Charmeleon was instantly upon Victreebel, claws enlarged and glowing in a metallic sheen, slashing her in the chest, making her cry in pain. "Now use Dragon Rage!"

Then, Charmeleon took a deep breath and unleashed a Dragon Rage, which from this close was very very effective. Like Ivysaur though, Victreebel wasn't going to go down so easily.

"Ivysaur, use Stun Spore!" Erika tried to get atleast one hit in, but the, unknown to her, 36 level Charmeleon was not only strong, but fast as well.

"Nope." Ash said. "Flamethrower!"

And that was it for Victreebel. Surviving a Metal Claw and a Dragon rage was a miracle. Surviving a flamethrower was impossible. She fell down with a large thud, smoking yet alive.

"You did good Victreebel, return." Erika sighed, looking at Ash. "You have, till far, done very good. Though now Red, now you will have to battle my strongest Pokemon. Go Vileplume!"

Vileplume as an evolution of gloom. With a blue enderbody and a large flower on top of it, it was definitely one of the most unusual looking Pokemon he had seen. And hearing from Erika about her strongest Pokemon meant only one thing. This one was not going to be easy.

 _Vileplume, the flower Pokemon. The larger the petals are, the more toxic Pollen it can contain. This Vileplume is a Male and is on level 35._

35, the highest Level he had ever fought against, this Vileplume was going to be stronger than Lt. Surge's Raichu. And he couldn't hide his excitement.

"Alright Charmeleon!" Ash began his move. "Use Metal Claw!"

"Vileplume, don't let it come near! Use Poison powder!" From the middle of the petals on his head, a large ball of Powdery poison shot towards the sky, and landed in front of it, causing the poison to spread. Charmeleon halted in it's charge against Vileplume, staring at the toxic powder in front of him. "Now, use Sunny Day!"

"Sunny day?" Ash raised his eyebrow. Why would she... oh no, there was just no way! "Crap. Charmeleon, charge up the strongest Flamethrower, as fast as you can!"

A large ball of light shot up towards the sky, containing the energy of the sun. The poison slowly was filtered out of the Gym, leaving the field clear, and revealing Vileplume with it's centre was sucking in said light energy. Charmeleon's flame grew bigger, and it tried to use the strongest attack it could muster up. The solar energy was only helping him.

"Vileplume, Solar Beam!"

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"

Both the long ranged attacks collided in the middle, creating a lot of smoke. Up in the bleachers, Yancy and Brock ducked under the railing to avoid getting caught in the explosion. Ash used his hands to cover his face.

"Charmeleon!" Ash shouted, sighing in relief when he heard a familiar growl and the blue glow in front of him. "Good Job, ready your Metal claw! As soon as you sense him, charge! Use the smoke to your advantage!"

"Don't even think about it!" Erika also wasn't out of it. "Vileplume, use Leaf Tornado as fast as you can upwards to clear the smoke around you!"

Luckily of Vileplume, he managed to clear enough space to be able to see Charmeleon, and started to dodge the metal claw as skilfully as he could, though a few strikes did hit him here and there.

"Now Charmeleon! Use Mega Punch!" it was another of the moves he had taught Charmeleon. Mega Punch. It was a good move, that was what he could say about it. There was a glow in the smoke which was rapidly clearing, followed by a smack and a cry by Vileplume as he was tossed backwards due to the Mega Punch. "Great Job, time to finish this!"

"Vileplume, charge up another solar beam!" Both the pokemon once again charged up their signature moves, Solar Beam and Flamethrower.

"FIRE!" Both of the trainers shouted at once, causing both the moves to collide once again. This time, Charmeleon's flame thrower was much more stronger, surpassing the damaged Vileplume's Solar Beam and hitting Vileplume straight on. Vileplume collapsed on the ground, defeated.

"Vileplume is not able to battle. This match goes to Ash and Charmeleon!"

And that, was game.

* * *

"Now that makes what, 4?" After collecting his reward and his Badge, Ash, Yancy and Brock, along with Pikachu who was sitting on Ash's lap and Ash's egg, which according to Nurse Joy was close to hatching, were sitting in the lounge of the Pokemon centre. "You move fast. You are not even 2 months into your journey and already have half of the badges."

"My target is to get all 8 badges 2 months before the league starts." Ash said, rubbing his head. "So I have enough time to train in the victory road and then I will participate in the league."

"If you win." Brock said, leaning closer. "Do you plan on challenging the Elite four?"

"Of course." Ash nodded. "I don't know if I will win or not, but I think it's mandatory to challenge the Elite four. At least the first one. But that is talking too far off. Our next destination is back to lavender, then to fuscia."

"Eh?" Yancy asked, confused. "But why not saffron?"

"Saffron's real weird these days." Brock shook his head. "Yesterday only I got the call from professor oak saying that the gate from Celadon was closed off and now if you want to go to saffron, you need to get to Cerulean City to do so. Besides, we have the key Mr. Fuji was talking about."

"Yeah, that, and Saffron's gym leader isn't someone I want to take on so early." Ash said, closing his eyes. "Psychic types aren't exactly easy to fight."

"Yeah, a Dark type is really necessary." Brock said. "And there aren't many in Kanto. But why Fuscia? Is there something special about that gym? We could have gone to some of the minor ones around."

"Well, I want to get the 8 badges of all the major ones. Perhaps I will challenge the minor ones if I have the time to do so later on. But for now, it's the major ones. And besides, Fuscia isn't exactly going to be easy as well, it's a poison type gym."

"Poison types..." Yancy muttered, opening her Pokedex. "They are weak to... Psychic types,Ground types, while don't affect steel types, and are strong to grass types and... fairy types?"

"Yeah, fairy types, the newest type that was registered. There are a couple pokemon of that type in a faraway region from here, I don't exactly remember it's name, but it started from k." Ash said, gulping his soda. "They are super effective against dragons, something which rarely any type is able to do."

"Dragons are super effective against only dragons." Brock said. "But they are weak to ice and dragon itself. Now, we can add fairy to that list. But just because you have a fairy type doesn't mean you can defeat a dragon."

"Yeah, dragon's have the biggest of all movesets." Ash added, his eyes glinting in nostalgia. "My mother once had a Dragonair, she never evolved it. Unfortunately she died because of natural causes, but still, Dragonair was a cool pokemon and could use almost every single attack it could learn. Like flamethrower and stuff. She was cool, and amazing. Pokemon that can learn almost every single attack there is, those are dragon types."

"So is there a dragon type gym?" Yancy asked. "I mean, if there is, then Ash will have a difficult time."

"Nope." Brock shook his head. "That's the only type of gym that is not in Kanto. We have all other gym, including the minor ones. Fairy also isn't chosen as a type for a gym, but that is because Fairy types weren't discovered until some months ago. Of course, in the future, we might have a gym for fairy types."

"And I guess you know all the types and it's weaknesses?" Brock and Ash nodded at that, a pretty common question for any trainer actually. Yancy pouted in depression. "Man, you guys make me feel like a third wheel with knowing almost everything and me knowing nothing."

"Hey, you know how to make medicine from plants." Ash said. "That is something I don't think I can do. Some easy stuff, sure, but the things you do? Nope."

"Yeah, your medicine does help a lot." Brock nodded flashing her a smile. "You don't need to look down upon yourself so much Yancy. Now, I guess we are going to Lavender tomorrow, so we should go and rest, probably stock up on supplies and then go to sleep."

"Mmhm." Ash nodded, getting up, Pikachu jumping on his shoulder. "Hopefully we don't take as much time as we did last time."

And that was what they did. Taking off early next morning after having some breakfast, they took the way to Lavender town, the same way they had come from, the next goal in their mind, the Fuscia city gym and the next Musical.

* * *

"This time we are far more faster than the last." Brock said, checking his Pokegear. "Last time we came through this route, we were like, 10 miles behind schedule, right now me might as well be 10 miles ahead."

"Because none of us overslept." Ash said, his hands tightly wrapped around his egg. "And all of us wanted to reach Lavender as soon as possible before that storm hits in."

He was talking about the rather menacing looking clouds in the distance that were slowly making their way towards them. None of them wanted to get wet and risk catching a cold. So they were walking a bit of a faster pace, and were trying to get as close they could to Lavender town, according to the Pokegear, it wasn't even 20 miles away. They had taken a night stop when they passed Saffron city through the underground tunnel, 70 miles out of Lavender and today they almost walked 50 miles in the day, with breaks for lunch and a small evening snack. It was a good pace, especially because they wanted to reach Lavender town before the Pokemon Centre closes of checking in, usually at midnight.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu suddenly pointed down at the egg in Ash's hands, which was glowing. Ash widened his eyes, and removed the egg out of the container.

"Hey, what is going on?" Yancy peered in closer, but was pulled back by Brock. "Hey! I want to see it!"

"When a Pokemon hatches, only the trainer should be near it." Brock said quietly. "That way, the bond with the trainer and the Pokemon is better."

The glow slowly died down, revealing a small and cute Pokemon. It had brown eyes with black pupils. It had long rabbit like ears, and brown fur, with a cream coloured collar around its neck and a similar colour to the tip of it's tail.

"Eeeeveee~~~" It purred out, looking around curiously before looking up at Ash. Recognising him as the one who was supposed to take care of it, it purred and rubbed it's face against Ash's hand. Ash rubbed it's head, the bond forming between Pokemon and Trainer. He removed his Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon.

 _Eevee, the evolution Pokemon. This pokemon has an unstable genetic makeup, making it possible to evolve into different forms while being in contact with different types of energy. This Eevee is a female and is on level 1. She knows the moves Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip and Helping Hand._

"An Eevee!" Brock gasped, now coming closer as the Eevee seemed to have familiarised herself with Ash as it was now cuddled up in his arms. "That's quite a Pokemon you have gotten there Ash."

"Aww~ She's so cute!" Yancy cooed, getting closer to the Eevee, raising a hand to pet her. The Eevee purred in Ash's hands , making itself comfortable before going to sleep. "And she's already asleep?"

"All Pokemon when they hatch are like that." Ash said, fastening his hold on his new Eevee with one hand while removing a Pokeball. He pressed the tip to the Eevee's head, watching as Eevee was sucked inside the ball. A beep sounded off in his Pokedex, after which Ash called out Eevee again. She was still asleep, but snuggled deeper into Ash's arms. "And trainers should actually leave them alone, or in their Pokeballs for at least until they are naturally at Level 5."

"Naturally?" Yancy asked. "Pokemon can level up naturally?"

"Of course they can." Brock said. "How do you think your Meowth had a level when you caught her. Usually, newly born Pokemon level up by what they see. For example, when Ash caught Squirtle, he was at level... 3 I guess. And when Ash started to train him, he was at level 8, without any training, he grew up by 5 levels by just observing Ash train other Pokemon. Similarly, for the first 2 weeks, Ash won't be able to train Eevee, but she will gain experience by watching how Ash trains his other Pokemon. All pokemon are like that."

Yancy made an 'O' with her mouth, looking at Pikachu who had jumped up on top of his shoulder to look closely at his new teammate.

"So even Pikachu would have been like that when he was born?" At Ash's nod, she her eyes went wide. "Man, I can't even think of your Pikachu being so frail looking. I mean, he's your best Pokemon."

"I didn't have him at the time." Ash said, walking a little quicker as he could feel small drops of rain coming down on him. "Like we don't have time now. Let's go as fast as we can because it's going to pour down crazily in 10 to 20 minutes."

* * *

Luckily for them, it wasn't as bad as they thought, and they managed to make it to Lavender town's Pokemon centre before the rain went real cats and dogs.

"Man, we are so lucky right now." Sitting on the sofa's of the Pokemon centre's main room, Brock said as he looked at the windows. Ash had borrowed one of the Laptop's the Pokemon Centres had to look at some stuff, while Yancy was playing with her Meowth and Vulpix. Eevee was with Nurse Joy, getting checked up. "If we didn't run all the way, we would have been drowning. So what does the weather say?"

"It's a tropical storm." Ash said, sighing and closing his eyes. "Which has a 12% chance of turning into a Hailstorm of the night."

"Well, that's usual for this side of the region." Brock said, sighing. "Will it be gone by the morning."

"It says here that the storm will last for at least till morning, but the skies will be dark and cloudy for 2 days afterwards. There's a chance that another storm will form by next week." Ash said, reading out what was written on the page. "But luckily we won't be here next week."

"Yup, we will probably be in Fuscia by the time." Yancy sighed. "That reminds me to work on Vulpix's strokes for the upcoming musical in Fuscia city."

"About that..." Ash said as he opened up another page. "I saw this while I first went onto the trainers site. Look at this."

 _Due to technical difficulties, the Musical in Viridian City has been cancelled off. However to remain on schedule, the musical committee has decided to hold the Muscial in Amethyst town, just to the southeast of Vermilion city on the 18_ _th_ _, while the Musical in Fuscia city is also cancelled due to the date being the same as the Amethyst town Musical, and is shifted to Violet town East form Viridian. People who already have registered for the Musicals in Fuscia or Viridian can find special Busses headed to Amethyst Musical or Violet Musical respectively, for participants only. Sorry for the inconvenience- The contest committee._

"Well, that's unfortunate." Brock said, rubbing his cheek. "Amethyst town..."

"Oh no!" Yancy said in horror and depression. "Now all my preparations will go to waste!"

"Actually, we can make it to Amethyst town quite easily." Ash said, opening up a map and pointing to Amethyst town. "See, Amethyst town is very close to the route we are going through, just a couple hours walk from the Vermilion city partition. There's a road for that as well, quite a good one."

"Yeah, and it only takes us, like 3 days to reach the outlet towards Vermilion city! Add a couple more hours to that, and we might as well be there by the end of the week. What is the date today? The 8th? No, the 9th. So if we skip tomorrow, and move the day after, we might reach Amethyst town by 13th, 14th latest. That way, you will have around, 4 full days of time to do final preparations."

"And besides, I was wondering how would we reach Fuscia city by the 21st anyways." Ash said. "The road to Fuscia from here is quite a long one. It's like going all the way from the east of the region to the south west. That's like, almost, 500 miles we will be travelling."

"Yup, if we go by normal speeds, we can travel at least 35 to 40 miles in a day, 50 if we push it. So that would mean 10 days to reach Fuscia. This way, won't only be able to get a rest, but also a chance to see Amethyst town. It's not a minor town, nor does it have a gym, but I have heard enough of the industries there that makes me interested. I guess that is why they chose it."

"Yeah, and the extended timeframe will give me enough time to train for my battle with Koga in the Fuscia city gym." Ash said, looking down at Pikachu who was playing with Vulpix instead of Yancy since she was talking. Vulpix was trying to catch Pikachu's tail, and gnaw on it, while Pikachu was moving away the very last second. "I mean, erica's strongest Pokemon was at level 35. I have heard Koga has a pokemon that is on level 46."

"Yup, that guy is the lead choice along with the gym leader of Saffron city to be made an elite 4. Agatha of the elite 4 has gotten quite old you see, she's now having little troubles battling." Brock said. "I think these years might be the last for her, after that, she will have to chose a replacement, and I think, considering her having 2 poison type pokemon, she would go for Koga. But enough of that. My point is, we will be going to Amethyst town for your musical, and then to Fuscia city for Ash's gym badge."

"You guys..." Yancy almost felt like crying. "You guys are the best!"

"Mr. Ketchum." Nurse joy called out to Ash. "Can I please talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course." Ash got up and walked towards Nurse Joy. Pikachu jumped up on his shoulder as he was walking. As soon as he was in range, Eevee jumped in his hands, purring happily.

"Vuuuui~" She purred, rubbing her face against his chest. Ash smiled and held her tight, looking up at a smiling Nurse Joy.

"Your Eevee is in perfect health. I recommend to give it a herbal mixture of Milk and some berries to increase her immune system. And also, it will be wise if you don't train her till she turns at least 1 and a half week old." Nurse Joy said. "Also, there is a call for you. Screen 4."

"..." tilting his head in confusion, he walked towards the said screen, and sat down. Immediately, the screen lit up, showing the face of Lance. "Lance?"

"Hello again Ash." Lance said with a grin, but then went serious. "I know I might be intruding considering the time and the storm in Lavender, but there are some things I needed to discuss. Can we talk right now?"

"Sure." Ash nodded, looking around. "As long as you don't mind me sitting inside the Pokemon centre phone area."

"Of course I don't." Lance nodded. "I am sure you have heard about the recent shift of the Fuscia city Musical to Amethyst town?"

"Yes, I have." Ash nodded. "Infact, we just changed our plans to head there so Yancy can take part in it."

"Well, you see, Amethyst town is very famous for the amount of industries that run there. We are talking about huger ones like your mother's, to small businesses like charm making and such. But also, since it's entirely a business town trouble is meant to follow. Lately, there have been sighting of some suspicious people that have been in contact with a strange man named 'the masked mauderer'. According to G-men archives, he's a freshmen pokemon hunter, just new in the business that does small time hunts, yet those Pokemon are powerful, like at least in the levels of 35 to 50, and Pokemon like, Dragonite, Rhydon, Snorlax and Gyrados. He is famous for catching a shiny Rhydon, level 40 and selling it off to a man who had a red R on his suit."

"So this 'Masked Mauderer' is actually a team rocket grunt?" Ash asked, an eyebrow rising. "Or is he a Mercenary?"

"He's more than that." Lance shook his head. "Ash, that man's actually Giovanni's cousin, twice removed."

"..." Ash's eyes were wide. Giovanni had relatives? "I think I am catching onto what you are saying."

"Ash, your win against Erica was what I needed to convince my fellow collegues, even though they were already sure of your potential, to give you this 'mission' if you can call it." Lance said. "I want you help a friend of mine find these suspicious people, and potentially the Masked Maurderer. If you are worried about the reward, don't worry, you will be paid."

"It's not the reward I want." Ash said, looking towards Brock and Yancy, and then back at him. "Does this have to involve my friends?"

"It will be wise if you don't." Lance said, his eyes softening up in understanding. "But at least tell them about this, I trust Brock and Yancy to stay quiet. Just don't involve them into it too much."

Ash scrunched up his brows, but realisation hit him a second later.

"Where do I meet your friend?" Ash asked, causing Lance to grin in satisfaction.

"He will be waiting for you in the Pokemon centre of Amethyst town." Lance said. "His name is Riley, he's from a different reason, and he is someone who wanted to meet you from a long time."

* * *

"Hmm, this is quite legit." Mr. Fuji said as he inspected the key Ash had given him. "Yes, this is definitely the key that is required for the closet on the top floor of the Pokemon tower. Where did you find this?"

"The boss of the crime syndicate team rocket had it. When I defeated him, and when he ran off, he dropped this key." Ash explained. "We were passing by since the only way to get to Fuscia now is to go through the Silence bridge and then through routes 14 and 15. We have to go to Amethyst town though, so we will be skipping the southern portion of the Silence bridge, using the route that connects Amethyst town to route 14, but today's weather says it's not ideal for travelling, so we are taking a break for the day, and thought we might drop by to show you this."

"Well, that's just great." Mr. Fuji said with an excited smile. "I have only heard legends about what could possibly be inside that closet, now, I have a chance to find out. Please, come with me right now, we will head there right away.

Half an hour later, they were standing on the top floor of the tower, just in front of the closet.

"Ash, you were the one who found this key." The old man said, handing him the golden coloured key. "You deserve to be the one who opens this up."

Looking behind, he could see Brock and Yancy, looking nervous on being in the tower again, but excited and curious to find out what was inside that closet as well. Taking a deep breath, he inserted the key inside the lock, and twisted it, making it click open. Then, he grasped the handle, and opened the doors of the closet.

It was like every single ages old closet, cobwebs, dust and smells of rotten wood everywhere. But what was more interesting were the 2 books, and a strange... Pokeball in there.

"Is that a Pokeball?" Yancy asked, curiously looking at it as Ash brought it out and took a look at it closely. It had a golden coloured top, and a white coloured bottom, with the symbols 'G.S' engraved in it. "What's 'G.S' stand for?"

"I have seen a lot of Pokeballs, but I have never seen one like that." Brock said, moving to touch it, but he instantly took his hand back. "What the? It's so hot!"

"Really?" Ash said, an eyebrow raised. "It feels normal to me though. Are you sure?"

"Let me try." Yancy tried to touch it, but nothing happened to her as well. "He's right, it's just at normal temperature. A little warmer though. Are you sure you felt it to be hot?"

"Really? Take a look at this!" Brock showed his hands to him, which had a tinge of red on them. "It burned me!"

"But that's not possible!" Yancy protested, holding the ball in her hands. "It feels just like normal bath water does! How did it burn you?"

"Hmm, maybe it's because of the 2 of you being slightly special?" Mr. Fuji said. "I mean, there are ways that connect 2 people to each other, like a bond between them."

"W W What?!" Yancy exclaimed, her cheeks going pink. "W What a are you i i implying?!"

"Nothing actually, just that I believe since Ash was the one that touched the ball first, he got attached to it, and whatever is inside that ball feels the bond between the 2 of you, so it trusts you, but it seems that something is wrong with the bond. I mean, usually hot is a word used when someone is paying a punishment, you know, like burning in the boiling hot pits of hell, like that. Well, it seems like whatever is inside there, it believes Brock has done something that it things is wrong, and he should be punished."

"..." Ash looked at Brock with narrowed eyes. "I have a feeling what's inside here is a female."

"Oh come on!" Brock protested weakly. "I am not **that** bad, am I?"

No one answered him unfortunately.

"A anyway." Yancy got her heart in control, still shying away from Ash's glance. "I don't think it's like that. Hey Ash, how about you call out what's inside there?"

"Well, here goes nothing." Ash shrugged, and pressed the button, but nothing happened. "Huh? It's not opening."

"Really?" Mr. Fuji asked, moving his hand closer to the ball, but he recoiled instantly. "I could feel the heat from here. Looks like the Pokemon inside that ball might be a fire-type."

"Or it could also be someone who is related to feelings." Ash said, trying to shrink the ball. "Nope, it won't shrink as well. Mr. Fuji, I know this should be a treasure for your city, but can I take with me to Professor Oak? I think he might be able to find out something."

"Of course, Samuel Oak is the best guy to go to if you have any trouble." Mr. Fuji chuckled nostaligically. "Yes, you can. I think it will be better if you take these books as well, they are in a completely different language."

It was true, the figures on there looked a lot like a certain pokemon they had only seen in mysteries.

"Hey, is that Unown?" Brock asked, taking a closer look at the books. "Yeah, that is Unown alright. I have seen those writings before, it comes on a programme I used to watch. I think Professor Oak might be able to solve the mystery behind it."

"Well, only one way to find out right?" Ash asked, and kept the G.S ball, as he was going to call it from now on, inside his bag, along with the 2 books. "I will call Professor Oak from the Pokemon centre and tell him about this. I have a feeling that this Pokeball isn't going to be able to transfer through the P.C. "It doesn't register in the Pokedex, luckily for me."

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Yancy nodded, eager to get out of the scary tower.

* * *

"Hmm... That is quite the thing you have there Ash." Professor Oak said, looking at the G.S ball in front of Ash's side of the phone. "I have never seen, or heard, of such a Pokeball. As far as my memory go, Pokeballs were developed _after_ I was born, and when I was like, 2 years old. That is over 60 years ago from today. I had been a trainer till I was well in my 20's, and a researcher since I was 32, and I must say, that 'G.S ball' completely baffles me. It cannot be scanned by the Pokedex, it cannot be sent by the P.C transfer system. And it cannot be opened or shrunk. And it is hot to the touch to everyone except for you and Yancy. I would love to see them as soon as I can so I can get to solving it, but I think it will be better if you keep it for now. Maybe you are able to open it naturally, or maybe you find someone who can, who knows? Anyways, keep the G.S balls for now, and use the Pokemon centre parcel service to send me those books. Unknown dialect, which I fortunately know, always is interesting to read and find out what it means."

"Of course, it will be done." Ash nodded, putting the G.S ball back into his bag. "Also, Professor, I have heard something really interesting about the Pokemon League."

"Oh, so you heard it? It is going to be officially announced in a week, but that is true, you won't be able to challenge the Elite 4 directly." That caught the attention of Brock and Yancy.

"What?!" Brock asked, clearly baffled. "But that is what the rules have been since the developing of the Pokemon league!"

"Yes, they have." Professor Oak nodded. "But that doesn't mean that it is compulsory they don't change. I myself battled the elite 4 once, and won, but that isn't the topic here. Due to the rather outrageous amount of people challenging the gym badges, like, over 300, there's a possibility there will be over 200 challengers of the league. Of course, the Elite 4 can't handle all those battles, so they have decided one thing. If you want to challenge the best of the best, you have to be the best of the best. So, there will first be a tournament in which challengers who have 8 badges, out of which at least 2 should be one of the major badges from major cities, will battle it out. The winner of the 'Pokemon League Conference' will get the ability to challenge the elite 4. As you know, Kanto officially has no champion, only the elite 4 consisting of Lorelie, the ice and to an extent, water type master and the 'weakest' 4th member of the elite 4, Bruno, the fighting type master and the 3rd member of the elite 4, Agatha, the ghost type master and the 2nd member of the elite 4, and finally, Lance, the leader and the strongest of the elite 4, the master of Dragon types."

"..." Ash narrowed his eyes. "So in other words, I will have to defeat over 300 challengers to get a chance to challenge the elite 4?"

"Yes." Professor Oak nodded. "Who told you this information?"

"Lance did." Ash said, causing Professor Oak to choke. "I know I told you and mom about the incident in Celadon city and what he asked of me. It was a pain to convince mom, but I got her approval. I just wanted to confirm it."

"Well, you got the confirmation." Professor Oak sighed. "But still, you have a connection with Lance, that is beyond surprising. Anyways, Ash, you do your best to win your upcoming battles, and visit me as soon as possible, Yancy, best of luck for your upcoming musical. On a side note, Delia will see that as well, so make sure to make her more impressed than she already is. Brock, your recipes were amazing, perhaps we can have a chat on how you come up with them, and how they can help them more with my studies."

With the final goodbyes said, Ash disconnected the call, and sighed. Immediatly, Brock turned to him.

"Why didn't you tell me about the Pokemon League?!" Brock almost demanded. "Darn it Ash, that is not any small news!"

"It was late at night, we both were tired, and it slipped out of my mind after what Lance said to me." Ash said, looking apologetic. "Incidentially, there's something else I need to say to you guys. Let's go back to our room and discuss it."

* * *

Route 12 was one of the biggest routes in the region. Also known as the 'Silence Bridge', it was a route consisting of a bridge over the bloody sea. It wasn't easy to go through it since it was over a bridge, and there were basically no places to camp out at except in the middle of the road, travellers usually found a place by the edge of the road to rest. No one slept during their travel on this route.

According to the Pokegear, their destination was cut by almost 100 miles. So, they only had to travel 100 miles, which was easily accomplished in 2 days, 3 at max. Luckily of them, route 12 had benches on them to rest on.

And as they had planned it took them 2 full days, full of battles, walking and the salty air of the sea to pass through. 2 full days without a proper rest and bath, which meant only one thing. All of them were tired and smelling slightly, and were oh so looking forward to reach the gate that lead them to Vermilion, where there were resting areas and room where one could take a bath in.

Of course, destiny find a way to stop them 200 meters from the said entrance.

There was a large giant pokemon, fully coloured in green with a cream belly sleeping on the road, literally in the middle blocking the path. And this was the only path they could use. Luckily, Ash had a Pokeflute.

 _Snorlax, the sleeping Pokemon. Snorlax's day is consisted of eating and sleeping. It is a very docile Pokemon and children often use his belly as a place to play on. This Snorlax is on level 40 and is a male._

Holy flipping hell. A level 40 wild Pokemon! His Pikachu was the only Pokemon he had that was above level 40, at 43! And charmeleon had _Just_ reached 40! Squirtle wasn't even on 30 yet and Ivysaur was extremely tired because of constant battles for the past 24 hours.

Once he played the Pokeflute, the Snorlax woke up in an instant, and instead of walking off, he glared at Ash and growled.

Pikachu had obviously taken it as an offense, and growled back. Ash blinked, and looked down, then back at Snorlax and frowned.

"If it is a battle you want." Ash said menacingly. "It will be a battle you will get! Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu's cheeks started to spark up, and it released a torrent of electricity onto the Snorlax, who's eyes started to glow. A barrier formed in front of him, blocking the attack from hitting him. That was protect!

"Well, that's not good." Brock mused. He was surprised Ash wanted to battle this level 40 Pokemon. "Not good at all."

"Come on Ash!" Yancy was cheering him on. "Finish this battle quickly so we can go and take a bath!"

"..." Ash narrowed his eyes. "Quick Break!"

This time, his attack hit as Pikachu disappeared, and then reappeard on to of Snorlax, hitting him in the head with a brick break, causing the Snorlax to wince. He growled and raised his fist, which started to glow with icy energy.

"Watch out, he's using Ice Punch!" Ash called out. "Dodge it, then use Thunderbolt again!"

Pikachu jumped out of the way to avoid the icy punch, and then unleashed a rather giant thunderbolt onto Snorlax, who actually survived the hit.

"That Snorlax is tanky." Yancy said with wide eyes. "He survived Pikachu's thunderbolt!"

Brock didn't say anything. He knew what was going to happen.

"Alright, this has gone long enough." Ash said, his eyes almost glowing. "Time to break out the big guns. Pikachu, use Thunder!"

This time, he had no chances of survival. A thunderbolt far larger and stronger than any Pikachu had unleashed crashed onto him, knocking him out. As removed an Ultra Ball, and threw the ball towards Snorlax. It shook 3 times before he was caught.

There was a beep from the Pokedex.

 _Snorlax was caught. His moves are Ice Punch, Body Slam, Protect, Rollout, Rest, Sleep talk and Shadow Ball. He also has the locked egg moves, Zen Headbutt and Double Edge._

Those were a lot of moves. 7 known and 2 potential ones, that was plain ridiculous. But it was expected considering Snorlax were one of the Pokemon with the greatest Move sets, like dragons.

"So now you have a Snorlax." Brock sighed. "This, is going to be a pain."

"I understand what you mean." Ash winced, looking at the ultra ball in his hand. "But I have a feeling I can wing it."

"What are you guys talking about?!" Yancy pouted, not amused she was left out. "Helloo! Some information here please!"

"Snorlaxes eat a lot." Ash said. "And I do mean, a lot. Easily more than the rations we have on us."

"The only way to feed a Snorlax is, getting a special type of berry which contains 100 times the nutrients a normal packet of Pokechow." Brock said. "It's known as the Alpha berry. It's readily available in markets all across the region, but it isn't easy to prepare the foods."

"Most of the times, Snorlax eats at least 20 Alpha berries, which means 80 of them a day. A pack of Alpha berries has a 100 berries, and is atleast 20 kgs in weight. So the only way to give that snack to Snorlax is, by crushing all that into powder and carry it around, adding it into special Pokechow made for Snorlax." Ash said. "I am glad I read the page for Snorlax in the Pokedex last night."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped now." Yancy shrugged, but stomped her foot. "But is it necessary for us to talk here?! Can't we go in the resting area to take a rest and a bath before talking?!"

The two of them looked at each other, and nodded.

* * *

"That was, by far, the best feelings I have had in ages." Brock sighed contently, leaning back on the large couch of the common resting area of the gate between route 11 and route 12. "The showers here are amazingly good by the way."

"Comforting." Ash nodded, messing around with his Pokegear. "And relaxing. Pikachu enjoyed his bath too."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu nodded with a grin. Eevee, seeing this, whined and started to gnaw on Ash's hand. Ash sighed.

"And Eevee had fun too." Ash said, rubbing the top of the newborn's head. Eevee completely melted and started to purr. "Pikachu, Eevee, are you hungry?"

"Vuiiii~~" Eevee rubbed her head against his hand more. Ash smiled slightly, and looked at Pikachu, who nodded.

"Well, here you go." Ash removed a small container of Pokechow from his bag, and gave it to Pikachu who started to gobble down his food, and fed Eevee her special full nutrient milk prepared by Brock, conveniently packed inside a baby bottle. They both had taken their respective baths, with Eevee and Pikachu joining Ash as well, playing around in the water of the special tub for Pokemon while Ash took his shower. Pikachu was like an older brother to Eevee, taking care of while Ash wasn't around, which made sense because Pikachu was Ash's starter. Now, they were waiting for Yancy to come out from the bath.

"Hey guys." Speaking of the devil, she came out running towards them, freshened up and in a way better mood. "Sorry for the wait, I had to wash myself 3 times to get the salty smell out."

"Yeah, I feel you." Apparently, Brock was sensitive to Salted Water and air, and his skin didn't agree with the increased amount of salt in the air. He was incredibly lucky that due to the storm the night ago, the surrounding was wet and slightly cold, or he would have burnt up inside the jacket and gloves he was wearing. Brock winced as he rubbed a red rash near his neck. "I managed to avoid almost all of my body, but my neck wasn't given such a blessing. Now all I want is a good nights sleep and I will be ready for any and all action tomorrow."

"Yup, let's just rest for half an hour more, and then we can continue onward." Ash said. "Amethyst town is not even 50 miles away, and it's not even noon yet."

* * *

At exactly 1800 hours 2 full days after they left Lavender, they arrived at Amethyst town. It was a fairly large town, with morderate sized buildings. But what was interesting about it was the amount of warehouses that were in the outskirts. Developed according to the older schemes, it had separate districts, the residential part in the front, while the industrial in the back. And surprisingly, it had an airport as well, not as big as the ones in the major cities, but still big enough.

The main theme of the town was grey and black, but there were the occasional colourful buildings as they walked through the residential sector. There was a clear visible difference between the genders of the citizen of Amethyst town, there were a lot more men than women, but that was mainly due to the fact that this town consisted more of sheer manual labour that many of the families refused to allow women to do. But Women weren't absent. They were there, in equal position that didn't require that hardcore labour that could potentially harm them, and had higher positioned jobs like managers or stuff like that.

There was, as said before, no Gym in this town, because of the people here rather serious about work and work alone. But there was a Pokemon centre and a Pokemart, and that was enough for them.

Walking into the Pokemon Centre, the first thing they were greeted with was a man standing there, as if expecting them to enter. He was wearing a blue coloured blazer with brownish pants, and a black coloured undershirt. He had a strange necklace on and had blue eyes, with dark brown hair and a blue hat. He was looking straight at Ash. Ash looked at him right back, wondering if this was the man Lance was talking about. Brock and Yancy stayed quiet, knowing this man won't be in front of them without a reason. Finally, he cracked a grin.

"Welcome to Amethyst town, Ash 'Red' Ketchum." The man, Riley, said with an excited smile. "I am Riley Gen, an Aura Guardian in training of Rota. I have heard a lot of things about you, and I wanted to meet you for a long time.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Author's Notes- And there we have it folks, chapter 12 of Ash 'Red' Ketchum. Many things have transpired with this chapter, first one being the Pokemon League tournament before the league challenge, and the next one, the completion of Ash's full team. Of course, we still have Lapras left, and Eevee evolving into Espeon to complete the full Red team from Gen 2 and 4.**

 **Speaking about Ash's team, I want to give him 1 more pokemon except Lapras, so I keep the slot open for now. What I have in mind is, either I give him one of the legendary birds to keep on the game theme, or I give him a dratini, or I give him one of the Pokemon he had in the Anime while he was in Kanto. It's your choice till the 15** **th** **of may, so make your choices if you have to.**

 **About the battle against Erika, frankly speaking, she was the easiest gym leader I have faced, even in Nuzlockes. I mean, I have only played Nuzlocke in Fire Red and Leaf Green once each, and the first time I chose Charmander as my starter, and had caught a Pidgey. I had literally destroyed Erika with these 2 pokemon alone, and in the other, I had a frigging Ninetails and a Golbat, once again letting me destroy her. So Erika was easy compared to the others. The Gen 5 moves and stuff was just to prolong the battle.**

 **So, the next expected update will be 2 weeks away, depending on the time I get to complete the chapters for the other 2 stories I write. Also, I would love to thank you for all your support until now, and I hope I keep on entertaining you.**

 **Till then, this is Omnipotent97 signing off.**


	13. Amethyst Town Troubles

**DISCLAIMER!-I don't own Pokemon. It is owned by Satoshi Taijiri and the Pokemon Company and whomever owns stakes in Pokemon.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Pokedex._

Chapter 13- Amethyst town troubles.

If there was a word Brock and Yancy would use to explain the silence between Ash and the person who had just introduced himself, it would be awkward. Both of the parties stared at each other, drinking in their visage and their initial reviews about the other going through their minds. Finally, Ash broke the silence.

"Aura Guardian?" Ash asked, slight curiosity filling into his face. "Like those people from the past who were able to use the inborn power every human had?"

"That is correct." Riley nodded, his grin receding to a gradually normal smile. "I am not all that good as the legends of Aura Guardians go, only in training. It's difficult to be one when I am one of the very, _very_ few people who can use Aura, and I have no official Aura Guardian to train me. But that's a thing I have to worry about. I've heard a lot about you from Lance 'Red'. I presume he explained to you about the situation in this town?"

Ash once again nodded, causing the man in front of him to hmm. His attention then went to Yancy and Brock, who stiffened.

"And these should be your friends." Riley noted. "How about we take this conversation inside the Pokemon centre, once you have treated your Pokemon and booked your living arrangements?"

And that was what he did. Yancy and Brock, who were too tired and weren't looking forward to finding out what Riley had to discuss, decided to go up to the room, Ash promising to tell them everything after they were well rested. Yancy also had registered her name into the Musical.

"I guess you're tired as well?" Riley asked Ash as he came towards the sofa he was sitting on. Ash only shook his head.

"It's been a long 2 days." Ash said, a faraway look in his eyes. "Really, really long 2 days."

"I understand." Riley laughed. "Anyone who has gone through route 12 agrees to that. They really should develop a new route, one with some good resting places and if possible, a sheltered route to avoid being infected by the salty breeze. I'll definitely remember to post it to the Pokemon league when I have the chance."

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "So, what's the situation here?"

"Well, I didn't exactly start myself you know?" Riley said, going serious. "But I am sure Lance has explained to you what our mission is supposed to be?"

"Finding the people who have been in contact with the masked mauderer and if possible, finding the man himself." Ash said, causing Riley to nod. "And stop them at any costs."

"Yes, that is correct. I happen to have a few sources in this town, and they also have said the same thing that the G-men intel have. The man is in contact with some Rocket criminals inside the town somewhere, and we have to find them. Also, he is going to be present himself 2 days later, so that will be the chance we need to find more about him and catch him."

"Hmm." Ash nodded. "Do you know what sort of Pokemon does he have?"

"We haven't recognised any official ones as per say." Riley said, removing his hat and running a hand through his hair. "You should know how hunters operate."

"Yeah, catching a Pokemon for a week, then releasing it and catching new ones, and repeating the process over and over again." Ash spat out. "How can they disregard the bond between a Pokemon and a human so easily sickens me."

"I agree with you Ash." Riley nodded, smiling at the thought process of the young man in front of him. "A Pokemon, no matter how much time you've had it, forms a bond with you. Releasing it into the wild is the reason why Pokemon suddenly attack humans."

"Can I ask you a question Sir?" Ash asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Please Ash, I'm no Sir yet. Call me Riley, Sir, or master, or commander makes me feel much older than I am." Riley said. "Besides, I'm only 20."

"Still 10 years older than me." Ash said, causing Riley to snort. "Anyways, are you from Kanto?"

"Oh." Riley raised his eyebrow. "What do you think Do you think I'm from Kanto?"

"If I be honest with you, I will say no." Ash shook his head. "I think you're from somewhere in the north."

"How correct you are." Riley said, a nostalgic smile on his face. "I'm from the Sinnoh region up north, Iron Island to be particular. Come over if you ever reach there in your journeys."

"Well, that's a long time off, probably 3 to 4 more years before I come over to that point in my travelling, but I sure will visit you." Ash said. "I really would like to talk Riley, but I'm seriously tired and need some rest if we are going to hit the streets tomorrow."

"I was about to suggest it to you anyway." Riley smiled at him, and got up. "I have some _paperwork_ to do before I too will hit the bed. Tomorrow will be a long day, and we will need all the rest we can get. So, let's meet for breakfast at 0830 in the morning, is that okay with you?"

"Sure." Ash nodded. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

"Ash." Yancy called out to him after he had settled on the bed next to hers. Unlike the usual Pokemon Centre bed bunks, the Pokemon centre in Amethyst town a 3 bed arrangement, 3 good, large single beds. Hell even his own bed was nothing compared to this!

Ash grunted in response, turning over to his side to face her. She noticed his red eyes straining with tiredness, but she had to ask something that had been bothering her since the past few days. She also noticed Pikachu also copy his trainer's action, and rolling over completely as his body didn't allow him to sleep on his side. Ash brought his hand and held Pikachu in that position, much to the rodent's delight. Eevee jumped on his shoulder, nipping at his hair painfully that was falling all onto his face. He playfully swatted her atop the head, and leaned slightly forward causing her to tumbled down in front of him. She smiled slightly at the scene.

"I just wanted an opinion on something." She said, taking a deep breath. "D Do you think I made the right choice coming with you on your journey? I, I mean, not that you aren't a good friend, you're my first human friend! I it's just, with what's been going on, I, I am slightly afraid that I'm being a dead weight."

"... I admit you might be slightly naive." Ash said, carefully. "And you might get carried away at times, especially when you're excited, but that makes you yourself. Everyone has a certain characteristic that they always retain no matter what their age is, and this naive, slightly airheaded and excitable personality of yours is what makes you the Yancy Orchid I met that day in Viridian forest. I can't tell you for sure if you made a mistake or no, for I have no right to as a 3rd party, even if you are asking me for an opinion, but if I were you, I would have said no, I didn't make a mistake. Yancy, you were living in a hut which didn't have a proper roof, without a bed, a blanket, and proper services. You picked up your outfit from the thrown away or lost outfits during your usual checkup in the Pokemon centre's orphans trust. That is not a way a 10 year old girl should live, one as pretty as you. If my mother had been there with me, she would have not let you out of her sight for the next 50 years. And I will never, ever be able to understand what you went through, and I don't want to see you go through that again."

She couldn't respond. The words that Ash had said were so heartfelt, so full of meaning that they had touched her dearly. Small teardrops were slowly forming in her eyes, trailing down her cheeks as she stared at him. H He really was a great friend.

"Also, don't cry." Ash said. "You look bad when you cry."

"S Shut up." She muttered under her breath and buried her pink face under the covers. He had called her pretty! He thought she was pretty!

* * *

"Good Morning Ash." Riley greeted him as soon as he saw him. "Ready for today?"

"Yes I am." Ash nodded, grinning slightly. "All my Pokemon are fully healed and I am fully rested myself."

"Good." Riley smiled, then noticed Brock and Yancy walk towards the back of the back of the Pokemon centre. "Are your friends not coming with us? Even if lance says otherwise, it would be better to get some help in the information gathering part of the mission."

"Yancy says she would have loved to help, but she has to practice for the upcoming Musical, and Brock had promised her to help her out in spotting mistakes since I was going to be busy. He says that he would keep an eye out on anything weird or unusual when he walks around." Ash said. "So it's only you and me."

"I understand." Riley nodded, his smile receding off to a much more serious look. "Ash, I will remind you once again, this is a very dangerous mission and could possibly ruin your carrier if you are not careful. Are you sure you want to go along with this?"

"Yes." Ash nodded. "I've seen what these criminals can do. I've seen how far they are willing to go to get their deeds done. I will do everything in my power to stop them because they are evil, and I don't like evil people."

For a second, there was a glimmer in Ash's red eyes, a glimmer of determination and of absolution. He wasn't joking, he was serious about stopping them. Riley grinned at him.

"Good." Riley nodded. "Now, let's see what we have here. According to G-men intel, There's a very small chance we'll actually come face to face with the masked marauder, let alone get a chance to catch him. But we for sure do have to find out and put an end to the operations team rocket are doing here. There are 4 of them in contact with the hunter, 2 of them are high ranked grunts and the other 2 are their 'trainees'. Of course, there might be some other normal grunts, which even one of your Pokemon will be able to handle 10 of them. They are quite weak. It's the 4 we have to scare off and possible capture that we have to worry about. All of them might have strong Pokemon, so let's be careful."

"I assume we have to find out where and when they are meeting the marauder or his men to do the transaction?" Ash asked. "And put a stop to it right there?"

"That is correct." Riley nodded. "Good, you catch on quickly. Obviously, to do this, we will need to be looking at every single seedy place in town. Since you are technically underage to enter pubs or bars, I'll take care of that particular side of information gathering. I have done some 'homework' while I was waiting for you, and I found some particular seedy places that doesn't involve you being underage. Most of them are abandoned warehouses, apartment buildings or even secluded areas where no one ever goes to. I wrote down the addresses on this page, and I would like you to go and check them out thoroughly, and by thoroughly, I mean from the mainroom, to the bathroom, to the office. Don't leave anything unchecked, even drawers, crevices in the sofa's, hell even the top of the fans. Anything that doesnot belong in a place you are checking, confesticate it and bring it to me, and tell me that location. We'll keep an eye on that place deeper."

"Okay." Ash nodded, and the two went out on their separate ways to find clues about the location of the people who they had to catch. The first location Ash had gone to was near the Pokemon centre, and right beside the local police station. Finding anything in there would be a miracle because no one in their right minds would hold high class criminal transactions right next to a place which had almost 20 police guards with fully evolved Pokemon in them. It was a small apartment complex, empty and rotting, and as Ash had thought, it was completely empty, and rotting.

The second location he had to go to was not too far off from the first one, just a couple of streets away. It was an abandoned temple of sorts, which was just like it sounded, an abandoned temple, which was actually boarded off, and he could see the workers already starting to fence up the place to destroy it and create a new one.

The third location was an interesting one. It was a park, still in use, in the middle of the city. And since he was 10 years old, he didn't need to sneak around. He simply walked in through the front gates, and as soon as he walked in, he noticed a few things. The first was the lack of children. In a park, the first thing one would see was children, playing around with their parents or friends or siblings. Yet in this park there were no children, absolutely none. It could have been the fact that it wasn't even 0900 in the morning, but there were still absolutely no children in the park, and that was concerning. Yet what made the chances of this being a suspected meet up location lessen was the fact that there was no opening in there. Very less trees, a simple fountain in the middle which was probably not working or not operated. But at the same time it made a perfect spot for meeting because it was right in the middle of the city, and you could run away as fast as you wanted in any direction.

However, it was the final spot on the list that held the most promise. It was an abandoned warehouse, right on the edge of the industrial section of the city, broken, and slowly deteriorating. It smelled of suspicion because there was absolutely no way he was going to believe that there will be a Pokeball factory in a place like this. As far as his information went, there was no Pokeball factory in mainland Kanto. It was on an island which could be only accessed by the Pokeball company, or it's parent company, Silph. Corp.

"Whoever did this is either an idiot, or is incompetent." Ash said, walking away. He didn't need to go inside. The place would be watched or at least someone standing guard as an excuse. But he needed to find something to prove his suspicions. And it turned out that there was a water tower nearby that was in the open and faced some windows of the warehouse. Climbing it was very easy, even though anyone going up there was prohibited, he climbed up exactly when he knew no one was looking, or around.

"Alright." Ruffling into his bag, he fished out a set of binoculars he had borrowed from the Pokemon centre. "Here we go."

Looking through it, he was able to peer into the windows, and his suspicions were proven correct. It looked rusted and old from the outside, but from the inside, there was a massive R that was painted on the ground. Yes, truly, whoever was in charge of this operation is an incompetent fool and an idiot.

'Bloody idiots, what do they think they are doing in a place like this?' Ash thought, climbing back down the water tower, and walking towards the town. 'Time to get Riley and get this show on the road.'

* * *

"You're right." Riley said to him as they both looked through the water tower. "These guys are absolute idiots. Who the hell would install a Pokeball factory in a place like this when it is obviously well known that the only Pokeball factory that is under the control of Kanto is on a private island down south. I wonder who put these guys in charge of such insane operations. Actually, I wonder why there aren't any reporters flocking around the area."

"Maybe because they've hidden it well." Ash said. "I mean, look at this place. It's far away from the working warehouses, literally no one comes here, with the nearest area of activity being the highway some 500 to 700 meters out there. They're idiots, sure, but you've got to admit they do know how to hide well, and somehow squash suspicions from the minds of the local public, below 8 years."

"Yeah, anyone who knows how to read and reads the newspapers would know that there's something wrong with this place." Riley nodded, raising a hand to his chin. "So now, we have their meeting spot. The next question is, how do we find when they are going to meet? The bars are all closed right now so I'll leave that for the night. We need some good information so we can start creating a plan to tackle them. And we can't just let this place go unwatched."

"Well, regarding the unwatched problem, I may have a solution to that." Ash said. "However, it isn't exactly that great of all suggestions."

"At this point of time, we can use almost any ideas." Riley said. "So what's your plan?"

"Do you have a flying pokemon that is fast, can take care of itself and can stay out of eyesight?" Ash asked. "I mean, I'll keep one of my Pokemon who has a great eyesight here as well, and along with your flying Pokemon, they can alert us of what is wrong or what is going on."

"..." Riley thought about it for a second. "Let's think about it for a bit. Right now, there's obviously no one inside the warehouse, so we can safely sit here until we see someone in there. Till then, let's think of something. But if we can't find any other substitute, we go ahead with it. I have a flying type that fits the criteria."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu, who was sitting in his lap, said something. "Pikapi Pikachu!"

"He's saying that he'll stay here himself." Ash said with a smile, rubbing the top of Pikachu's head. Riley looked on curiously at their conversation.

"Ash." He asked. "Can you understand what Pikachu says?"

"I can understand all my Pokemon." Ash said. "And wild Pokemon too, but not as well as my own Pokemon. Pikachu was my starter and the first Pokemon I befriended, so I understand him as much as I would understand my own mother. The term 'friend' doesn't fit for him, because he's family. All of my Pokemon are, so I understand them good."

"I see." He wanted to say something, but he knew he shouldn't, not right now. "That's a rare gift to have. I can understand my Pokemon too, but it is because of Aura."

"Aura?" Ash asked, eyes perking up in interest. "You mean the inborn power stored inside of every living creature? The same thing that the legendary Hero Sir Aaron used?"

"Yes, the same thing." Riley nodded with a smile. "You've heard about Sir Aaron?"

"It's my favourite story, and an idol of sorts." Ash said, eyes looking towards the sky. "Sir Aaron was said to have been a man who befriended all Pokemon, helped every Pokemon in need, and even raised a few from an egg. To me, that means he was a Pokemon master, someone who trained with, believed in and understood Pokemon far more better than anyone could. I always wanted to surpass him, be a Pokemon master. So yeah, you can say I've heard about it."

"Now isn't that a rather glorious dream to pursue." Riley shook his head, leaning backwards on the tanker. "Anways, yes, I can use this Aura like Sir Aaron to do stuff, not as good as him, but still on a decent level. It's a very difficult art to master, but the rewards are great and sweet. Let's just forget about that for now. We have some important stuff to do, namely plan out how to keep a watch on them at the same time gather information about them."

* * *

"I wonder what Ash is doing right now." Yancy asked Brock as she took a bite of her pasta that she was having for lunch. "I mean, we are here having pasta while he's doing hardwork in trying to find those criminals."

"I think he will be thinking the exact opposite of that." Brock said chuckling. "He's sitting on top of a water tower right now looking into an abandoned warehouse trying to find more on team rocket while Riley has gone out to grab them something to eat. I asked him half an hour ago. Right now probably would be thinking that he's the one sitting around and doing nothing while you are practising for your Musical 4 days later. I am sure he is going to incredibly surprised by your performance."

"I, in fact, am waiting to see it as well." A familiar voice said from behind them. Both of them turned around to see Luna Scarotide behind them. The only difference was, she had a cane with her this time. "Hello Yancy, Brock."

"Miss Luna!" Yancy's face broke up into a big smile. "I didn't know you were also participating!"

"I'm not." Luna shook her head and sat down on one of the benches. "I was here to actually meet one of my good friends in the city when I found about the Musical. My health isn't all that good you know? I'm above 70 for god's sake. I can't do everything you young one's can do."

"Oh." Yancy looked at the cane with her. "You have walking problems?"

"It tends to happen when someone crosses 70." Luna shook her head in distaste. "So I'm not going to participate this time. But the next time, I sure will participate in a musical. I want to get to the orchestra you know?"

"Yeah, I agree." Yancy nodded. "I also want to make it to the orchestra."

"Yeah." It was then she noticed the absence of the raven haired young man. "Where's Ash?"

"He's out with an Aura Guardian trainee doing some stuff." Brock said, knowing Yancy would blurt something unneeded out. "So Yancy actually wants to surprise him by doing her best."

"Oh." Luna looked around, and leaned forward. "Does it involve these team rocket grunts? If it does, I saw some of them yesterday night when I was taking a walk."

"Really?" Brock leaned forward to keep the conversation between them. "Where? And what were they doing?"

"They were walking around in the park heading towards the outskirts of the village to do some stuff, I think at around 2140 in the night, while I was returning to the Pokemon centre." Luna said. "You can tell your friends this, it might help them."

"I sure will." Brock nodded, removing his Pokegear. "In fact, let me just give him the message right now."

* * *

"Brock gave me some news." Ash said as soon as he kept the Pokegear after talking with his travelling companion. "He says Luna Scarotide, a Pokemon conductor, saw some team rocket grunts yesterday night near the park."

"Really?" Riley asked, eyes wide. "Someone actually saw them? This lady must be real good because even our agents when they did their initial research couldn't find them."

"Either that or they slacked off when they realised that the G-men agents were gone." Ash said, looking back in the warehouse. "So what to do about that incident?"

"We've stayed her for far too long." Riley said. "We need to take a more hands on approach. Let's go back to the Pokemon centre for now, we'll come back when it's night."

"Okay." Ash nodded. "Should we leave a Pokemon behind?"

"No." Riley shook his head. "It's not of use. They aren't going to come in here in the morning, or they are already hidden in their rooms and won't come out. As I said, we'll come back during the night and put a stop to them."

"Alright." They both got down from the water tank and walked to the Pokemon centre. Riley excused himself halfway through, saying he still had one more place to check up, and he would meet him exactly at 2000 hours outside the Pokemon centre. So Ash went inside the room he and his friends were sharing, which was expectably empty.

"Pika." Pikachu jumped on his bed, rolling around and stretching, the extent of staying in the sunlight for more than 5 hours taking a toll on him. Ash also removed his jacket and folded it neatly, setting it on his bed. It was still summer, and wearing a jacket around everywhere he went was a little too hot for his liking. He didn't know why he wore the jacket while travelling, but he liked it. But it wasn't the time for that.

"Pikachu." Ash called out to his starter. "I'm going out to train for a bit. You wanna come or do you want to relax?"

"Pika!" his response was the rodent turning over and sighing deeply. Ash shook his head with a smile, grabbed his keys and left the room.

As soon as he entered the field, he had to duck to avoid a stray fireball coming towards him, looking behind him he saw the ball of fire impact with the wall, and the flames vanish upon impact.

"Ash!" He turned around to see Yancy looking at him worriedly. "Are you okay? I didn't know you were there! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, I managed to avoid it." Ash said, walking towards where Brock was. "Please continue, I am here for my own training."

"O ok." Yancy turned back to her training. "B But no peeking! Y you've missed the initial part so now you will only get to see it in the musical!"

"...?" Ash curiously looked at her back, and nodded, turning towards Brock so his back was facing her and he couldn't see what she was doing. "So what's going on with her?"

"She wants to surprise you with a performance she made."Brock said, smiling slightly. "So how was the manhunt?"

"Not too bad." Ash said, sighing. "I mean, all we did was run around and try to find clues as to where to find them, and found a potential meeting spot in a warehouse in the outskirts of the industrial section. Our first solid clue of their presence was Ms. Luna's sighting of them."

"Oh." Brock nodded. "Did you check the bars? They tend to have a lot of information."

"Riley said he would check them again this evening." Ash said, looking slightly at Yancy to see if she was listening or not, then he spoke in a hushed tone. "Also, I might go with Riley to conduct a 'raid' tonight, so if it is possible, keep an eye out on any escaped grunts, and if you encounter them, catch them and tie them up."

"I see." Brock's face went emotionless. "Do you guys need my help in the actual raid?"

"Yes." Ash nodded. "I'll tell you the exact details when I leave, but I happen to know that from 2000 to 2200, Yancy watches her favourite tv-shows. I think it is at that time we'll break in and do our stuff."

"Okay." Brock nodded. "I'll be ready. Where's Riley by the way?"

"He's gone to do some stuff." Ash shrugged. "Pikachu's in the room, sleeping, and I am here to do some training, just light warm-ups and introducing Snorlax to the team. My first meeting with him yesterday night was interesting to say the least."

"Yeah, never have I seen a Snorlax so eager to battle, when awake, and so motivated." Brock said. "Well, go on then, I'll keep an eye out on here."

Ash nodded, and walked further down the field to a respectable distance and called out on all of his Pokemon.

"As you probably can see." Ash said, pointing to the large figure of Snorlax added to the team. "We have a new friend with us. Treat him well, and help him get used to our routine. Also, he managed to give Pikachu a good run for his money, so don't treat him as a newbie."

Charmeleon looked at Snorlax with both his eyebrows raised. In the entire team, the only one who was probably close to Pikachu's level would be Charmeleon. And Snorlax apparently was on the same level, and that made him respect the giant teddy-bear like Pokemon more. Squirtle pointed a fist at Snorlax and said something, which Snorlax scoffed in amusement at and said something back. Ivysaur only looked at him expressionlessly, and then nodded in respect. Eevee jumped on his belly.

"Good, you're already getting together." Ash smiled. "Now, let's get ahead with training. Since we are going to have a lot things to do tonight, it will be lighter compared to the other days. Also, remember the usual condition. Complete it in the given time-frame, you'll get your favourite berries, so Snorlax, if you complete the warm-up I am going to give you within an hour, I'll give you 5 extra of the berries you like."

Snorlax nodded excitedly, happy to see he will be well fed if he did his task. So Ash gave them their training orders and sat down on the ground, keeping an eye on Eevee. While he sat, he thought of what Riley had said to him about team rocket.

' _Team rocket is a very complicated group of Criminals._ ' Riley had said. ' _They don't have a set criteria, so we think that they are behind world domination. Lance is the one set behind their case in Kanto, where they are the most active. And you, Ash, have caught the leader's, Giovanni's, attention because you managed to stop them in the Viridian city centre, Rock tunnel, somewhere on the outskirts of Vermillion, in SS. Anne, the Lavender tower and Celadon city. However, unlike the other kids of your age, you are very mature, and very confident in your abilities. That is what is giving Lance the opportunity to ask for your help because today, the times are so dire that the shadows of evil are everywhere, and not just team rocket. What our agenda for this mission happens to be finding out why are team rocket trying to find and why are they getting in contact with second rate hunters like the masked Marauder. And when we do find their motives, we'll strike them, and this is where you come in._ '

Was what he had said. Team rocket were mysterious, and no one had any idea of their motives. And the fact that their leader had taken an interest in him worried him simply because he didn't want to know what would happen if he was caught by Giovanni, or what would happen to his friends, especially Yancy.

For some strange reason, he felt as if he was at home whenever he was around Yancy. He felt weird, in a good way, when they talked, and he secretly wished he could talk with her more. When he had first said this to his mother, she had smiled deviously and said that he should simply accept those weird feelings for what they were and let time develop them, and only then would he be able to find an answer and a solution to them. He hadn't dare ask Brock because he knew that the squinty eyed breeder to be was only interested in teasing him and Yancy instead of helping him. Well, as most teens would say, he would have to 'wing' it.

"Ash." He dropped out of his stupor and turned around to see Yancy and Brock looking at him. "It's 1600, are you done?"

"Oh." He looked to see his Pokemon, all looking at him in worry. He was so entrapped within his thoughts that he had forgotten to see the time. Getting up, he flashed them all a smile. "Sorry, was thinking about some things. Good job, I'll get you your berries."

However, what he never noticed were 2 small green eyes looking at him from the bushes, and then sounds of giggling being heard.

* * *

"Alright." Riley told Ash as they met up outside the Pokemon centre. "We have our targets. I don't know if the hunter is there or not, but I managed to fish out some information on our grunts. There are 4 of them, 3 males and 1 female, all of them are only stronger because they have been given Pokemon that are at a higher level than the other grunts. If the Marauder is there as well, you let me take care of him, and take down the 4 grunts. Did you tell Brock how to approach?"

"Yes." Ash nodded. "He will be standing behind the warehouse near the back exit with Ivysaur to catch and neutralise any escapees."

"Good." Riley nodded. Both of them were walking towards the warehouse, all of them having full teams, except Eevee who was kept with Yancy, and Ivysaur was with Brock. Their target and mission was clear, and they were not going to fail it.

Meanwhile, Brock just entered the other side of the warehouse, carefully sneaking though the walls and ended up just behind the back door. He then released Ivysaur and Rhyhorn out of their balls and told them to stay on the side, hidden from view, and waited for Ash and Riley to do their part.

Riley and Ash, who were standing outside the warehouse nodded at each other. Riley had his Skarmory out, which surprisingly, wasn't recorded in his Pokedex. Apparently, Johto Pokemon weren't exactly in the Kanto Pokedex, and he resolved to upgrade it as soon as he went back to Pallet. He himself had his charmeleon out, who was stretching his arms. Pikachu was also on the ground, his cheeks sparkling excitedly.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

There was a loud explosion as the front doors of the warehouse burst open, and large amounts of dust settled in the place. The grunts running around in there looked in a panic as Ash and Riley made their way in, Skarmory quickly taking care of the settled dust. As soon as they got sight of them, all of them cursed or paled.

"Crap, it's an Aura Guardian and the kid that was able to survive boss!"

"Get your Pokemon ready!"

"Raticate, use hyper fang!"

"Ekans/Koffing, use sludge!"

All sorts of shouts sounded off in the area as many of the grunts removed their Pokemon, but Ash and Riley weren't weak.

"Charmeleon, flamethrower on the sludges. Pikachu, quick tail those raticates!"

"Skarmory, use your best sand attack to stop the incoming blobs of poison, then use Air cutter!"

Charmeleon released another torrent of blue flames upon the blobs of purple liquid, that simply burned them to the smitherines, while Pikachu disappeared, his tail glinting as he made quick work of the raticates.

Skarmory also stopped the sludges with it's sand attack, and the Air Cutter that followed managed to knock the entire group out, but it was expected because both Ash's and Riley's pokemon were above level 40, while the grunts were somewhere around level 20.

Charmeleon used another flamethrower on the left over Koffings and Ekans on his side to take care of them, leaving almost 20 Pokemon laid on the ground, unconscious.

"For some 'elite team' these are sure low levelled grunts." Ash muttered loud enough for Riley to hear, who snorted in agreement.

"That's spot on." He replied back. "Where are your bosses?"

"T there aren't any bosses." One of the grunts in front said, shivering and paling slightly. "We were working alone on a project."

"Oh really?" Riley said, amusement twirling in his eyes. "Looks like I'll have to do it the age old way, but first, how about you give me a hand here, Brock."

"Now Ivysaur." Brocks voice said from behind them. "Use Stun spore!"

Large amounts of yellowish powder settled down upon the assembled group, causing all of them to go slack and fall on the ground, Skarmory once again using gust to get rid of the powder.

"Alright." Riley stepped forward again. "Who wants to go first."

"Vileplume, use Leech Seed." A females voice came from the stands above, however, Riley wasn't an Aura Guardian in training for anything. He simply jumped back from the incoming barrage of leaves, looking up to see a Rocket grunt with a vileplume beside her. The only thing different about her was she was wearing a longer skirt, and it was in white, and so was her t-shirt. "Aura Guardian Riley, Trainer Red, how can I be of assistance?"

"Come down here and get your group of rag-tags to come with us?" Ash asked 'innocently' and hopefully. "And into jail."

What was more amusing was that he had the complete puppy eyed look on him as well. Riley grinned, and looked at her disgusted and slightly surprised reaction. Brock for the first time didn't react because of the admittingly beautiful admin, and only glared at her.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline your invitation." She snarled, her Vileplume jumping down from beside her and in front of Charmeleon and Skarmory, as if she had no idea both the Pokemon were supereffective against the Grass/Poison type. "Vileplume, Stun spore."

From the middle of Vileplume's 'flower' on top of his head, he launched a massive glob of orange powder towards the sky, impacting in front of her enemies covering the room in orange coloured powder.

"Skarmory." Riley was, however, not concerned at all. "Use gust to clear the stun spore."

Skarmory trilled once and started flapping his wings, the stun spore slowly clearing, flying out of the warehouse through the many cracks and vents. The woman scowled.

"Vileplume, use Razor Leaf." The woman said. Vileplume let loose a flurry of leaves. This time, Ash took care of it.

"Use Flamethrower." Ash said to his Charmeleon. Charmeleon unleashed a large torrent of Blue Fire onto the oncoming leaves, easily burning them to the dust.

"Really Arianna, using a Grass type against a Fire type and a Flying type?" A males voice taunted the woman, a man from the back side, standing beside the woman. He had blue coloured hair, and even he was wearing a different version of the Team Rocket outfit. "Your Brain Cells have clearly depleted into nothing if you don't even know this basic fact the kid there would."

"If you think that you're so strong Proton." Arianna, the woman admin said through gritted teeth. "Then why don't you help me out?"

"Really? Against these 2?" Proton shrugged. "Well, I guess a little warm-up might be good. Go Weezing!"

Weezing came out of his ball, and floated beside Vileplume.

"Weezing, use Sludge!"

"And Vileplume, you use Razor Leaf."

Both the rocket admins teamed up, commanding their Pokemon to use their attacks.

"Skarmory, Air Cutter on the Razor Leaf."

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower."

Skarmory trilled once again, and in a fast pace fluttered his wings, small arcs/blades made out of wind rushing towards the Razor Leaves, easily cutting through them. Flamethrower completely incinerated the Sludge heading towards them, but they weren't done.

"Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage on Weezing."

"Skarmory, Ariel Ace!"

Skarmory flew up in the air, it's cry turning to that one of a predator as it took a loop and at a fast pace rushed towards Arianna's Vileplume. Charmeleon opened it's large maw and let loose the purpleish coloured energy of the Dragon Rage, which impacted straight on Weezing, being an instant knock out.

"What the hell?" Proton cursed, eyes wide. "Who the hell is that kid and how did he get a Charmeleon that strong?!"

"He's the kid the boss warned us about, Proton." Arianna said, gritting her teeth as she saw her Vileplume struggling to stand after the Ariel Ace hit her. "And you just went ahead and underestimated him. What will you do now? Weren't you saying of how strong you were and how this won't be a warm-up?"

"Shut up!" Proton snapped at her, calling back his Weezing. "Go Golbat!"

"Red, handle Vileplume." Using the nickname to prevent anyone from knowing Ash's name, Riley turned his attention to the Golbat. "Skarmory, use Steel Wing."

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower." Charmeleon took a deep breath and unleashed his torrent of blue coloured flames onto Vileplume, who couldn't do anything because it was already very injured and was knocked out in one hit, again. Charmeleon raised his hands in the air and shot a look at Ash, which looked a lot like a pout. All in all, he looked like a child who was throwing a tantrum.

"Yeah Yeah." Ash said, grumbling. "I know it was easy."

Charmeleon growled and huffed, obviously not happy. He wanted a good fight!

"Pika!" Pikachu cheekily said from Ash's shoulder. "Pika Pikachu!"

"Charrrrr!" Charmeleon growled from the ground, obviously not happy from what Pikachu had said. Till then, Skarmory had finished off Golbat.

"Well, this is not good." Proton said, recalling his Golbat, and looking around for a possible exit. "Not good at all."

"Where is Archer when we need him?" Arianna said, taking a step back. "Damn it! Forget it and let's run."

"Not so fast." Brock, who had climbed up the stairs during the battle said from behind them. "Ivysaur, use Leech seed to trap them, and then Sleep Powder."

There were 2 thumps heard as the 2 admins hit the ground, asleep. Brock sighed and stretched.

"Was it just me." Brock said from above, making sure to remove every single Pokeball and a weapon if they had from the person of the 2 admins. "Or this was very easy?"

"It was." Riley nodded. "Makes me wonder what they were up to."

"So that means this mission is done right?" Ash asked, looking around if he could see something weird or unnoticed. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary here."

"Let me take care of that." Riley closed his eyes and concentrated. After 4 to 5 minutes of concentrating, he opened them again and smiled. "Nope, nothing that much out of the ordinary. Some papers and Pokeballs which will be taken care of by the G-men people that will arrive in the morning. Ash, you and Brock did a great job, you should go back and rest at the Pokemon centre, we will talk tomorrow morning after breakfast."

Ash looked at Riley for a while, then recalled his Charmeleon and Ivysaur. Brock got down from where he was standing, and the 2 of them left the warehouse, running towards the Pokemon centre.

* * *

"I should say Ash, you were very impressive." Riley said, impressed. "Not every 10 year old could go up against people like that, and for that, you have my respect. Brock, you also did good by making sure no one escaped, and by subduing the admins. The mission was a 100% success."

Both Ash and Brock smiled at that.

"But Arianna and Proton were broken out while they were being transported." Immediately their smiled fell down and were replaced by shocked looks. "Lance says that there might be a 'mole' in the Pokemon G-men."

"Are you serious?" Brock gasped. "But the Pokemon G-men is supposed to be the best of the 'justice' organisations. How did Team Rocket get a mole in there?"

"If I knew, do you think this would have ever happened?" Riley asked, shaking his head and sighing. "From what the grunts told us, Team Rocket's current goal is to collect strong Pokemon, and get allies for funding. The masked man wasn't going to be here by himself, but he is in Kanto, and that is my mission for now, finding him and catching him."

"I see." Ash said, his red eyes twinkling. "I'll keep an eye open for him, I mean, we'll be travelling around so if we hear any news of him I'll message it to you."

"That will be much appreciated." Riley nodded. "Incidentially, where is Yancy?"

"She's outside, practising." Brock said, looking sheepish. "We sort of haven't involved her much in this because of, let's say what you told us about Lance having made sure of this with Mrs Ketchum was correct, and she just had once condition, not to involve Yancy in this till she is ready, and she clearly not."

"And I don't think I'm going to let her throw herself in danger." Ash said. "So we haven't told her, yet."

"Oh." Riley nodded, sagely. "Well, I expected that to happen. Delia Ketchum is someone not even Lance wants to go up against. But anyways, let's finish this. I have something for you both."

He removed 2 things from the bag he was carrying. One was a book, and the other a box. The box was handed off to Brock, and the book to Ash.

"Brock, that box has the basic necessities a normal field medic, for Pokemon and Human, would need." Riley said. "It will help you out a lot in your journey."

"Wow." Brock said, opening the box. "It's fully equipped. Thanks."

"And Ash." Riley turned his attention to Ash. "That is a book about Aura. If what I believe I see in you, you will do great stuff. Contact me when you finish the book, and we'll see how it goes from there. Till then."

Riley got up and walked off, a hand in the air. Both Ash and Brock said goodbyes to him, focused on their 'rewards' and turned around, going to where Yancy was.

* * *

'I will have my revenge.' The dark mass grumbled, red eyes glaring at the sky. 'You hear me! I will have my revenge!'

All around it lay frozen bodies, crying out in pain and agony as the large beast once again began it's onslaught. As far as the eyes could see, roars of a monster were heard, and the cries, cries of the poor, poor Pokemon that it slayed.

No one knew what the future held now, no one.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Author's notes- Well, I actually finished this.**

 **Sorry for the long, long wait. I had my semester finals going on, and lets just say they were DIFFICULT! Seriously, how does one write a friggin 4 page essay on the different generations of computers is beyond me. Anyways, now that they are finally over, or at least the most important ones are, I have free time to write again.**

 **The next update will be of the Dragon King, and in the next chapter of Ash 'Red' Ketchum, you'll see the musical, and the journey till Fuscia.**

 **I am severly tired and it's bloody 3 am while I am writing this story, so, thats all I will say for now. PM me if you have questions. Till then. Once again, thank you for all the support you have shown me.**

 **Omnipotent97.**


	14. Amethyst Town Musical-Road to Fuchsia

**Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon! It is owned by Nintendo/Game Freak/Satoshi Taijiri/whoever holds a stake in the franchise!**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Pokédex_

Chapter 14- Amethyst Town Musical-Travels to and in Fuscia City.

 _Aura is the natural energy found inside every living being, whether it be Pokémon or Human. Many scholars believe that Aura is the progenitor of all things that came to be, even the 'one with thousand hands' was believed to have used the aura that was flowing around in the natural form to create everything._

"The one with the thousand hands?" Ash wondered, curious as to whom they were talking about. "I don't know about any deity that has a thousand hands."

"Hm, did you say something?" Brock asked, looking down from a book on basic medicine he had found. "I heard something about a thousand hands."

"Well, in this book, it is written that the 'one with thousand hands' created the world using the Natural Aura that flowed around in the universe. Do you know any such deity?" Ash asked, skimming down the page to find something about the strange description. "It sounds familiar, but I don't know why."

"Well, I don't exactly believe in a single deity that created the universe. We Kantonians believe that life was created when Mew combined his powers with Zapdos, Moltres and Aritcuno, you know?" Brock said, peering over to read what he had. "But this is indeed curious. Perhaps there is a single Pokémon that had 1000 hands and created the world. We don't know, Kanto doesn't have many books on foreign religion."

"I'll ask Professor Oak about it the next time I meet him." Ash said, reading over the rest of the page. "This book is interesting. I don't know how long will it take me to start the practical approach, but I think I'll be able to at least call upon my Aura by the time the league ends."

"According to Riley, Aura can be as dangerous as good as a gift it can be." Brock said as a warning. "Don't overdo it, it can hurt you, remember that."

"True." Ash nodded. There was a whoop as Yancy, who was practicing for her first task, grinned in satisfaction at what Vulpix had created. She had a talent in drawing, for sure, and she could actually create streams of fire from her tails, to make the outer sketch before moving for the colours. And Yancy was going to use said skill in the first task of the Musical. Lately, a new rule had been passed in the musical committee, allowing Conductors to use multiple Pokémon in the second task, meaning now Yancy could use both Meowth and Cleafable in the second part of the Musical, increasing the chances of her victory, and she had an eye for this Rom, saying how it would be beneficial for her if she won it, giving her quite some time to prepare for the next Musical, and she had been going on and on about it the entire night. Ash had tuned her out during his reading, and wasn't focusing on what she was drawing. He had his own agenda's to complete.

The plan was, after the Musical was over, the next day, they would leave, go through Amethyst pass through the mountains in the south, and into the edge of route 13/start of route 14, and towards Fuscia city for Ash's next badge. It was a long journey, perhaps would take them atleast 3 to 4 days to complete, but was needed because Ash believed he still needed to train his Pokémon to a more suitable level. Till now, he believed only Pikachu and Charmeleon were strong enough to go up against any of Koga's Pokémon, and he wanted to use Squirtle in this battle as well. Eevee was still too young to battle, and won't be ready till she turned at least 2 weeks old. Ivysaur was improving drastically, and was, infact, very close to evolution, but Ash wasn't going to push it. If Ivysaur wanted to evolve, he would do it in his own pace and time, not upon his forcing, same for any of his Pokémon. He had even offered Pikachu the idea of evolution, but Pikachu had denied, saying he wanted to stay as he was for as long as he could.

"Ash." Said boy looked up to see Yancy holding a picture in front of her. It was of his Charmeleon, practicing Flamethrower. It was incredibly well made and realistic, the charred streams of fire as outlines making it even more real, and the blue fire was spot on. "Is it good?"

"Yes." Ash nodded. Pikachu, who was resting on his lap, opened his eyes and looked at it curiously, giving his own approval.

"Pikapika!" He said something to Vulpix. "Pikachu!"

"Vui!" Vulpix excitedly beamed at Pikachu, tails twirling around happily. "Vulpix!"

"He likes it." Ash translated it to Yancy. "But he wants a picture of him as well. And all of my Pokémon will soon come over with similar request, all of yours and Brock's to, if you think about it."

"Well, I guess I'm a painter for now, or Vulpix is." Yancy grinned, looking down at the happy fox. "You hear that, all of your new friends would like a drawing."

"Vul!" Vulpix excitedly nodded, ready for the challenge. The 2 ran off to do something new to master so it could be used. Ash shook his head and focused back down on his book, absently petting Pikachu who purred.

"Hey Ash, I've never asked it, but what is your plan for the future." Brock asked, looking at the young boy. Said boy looked up at him, confused. "I mean, surely you aren't just going to be a Pokémon trainer your entire life, are you?"

"My family's company." Ash said. "And I plan on giving the High School finals via self study as well so my chances are open."

"I see." Brock nodded, looking back down onto his book. "Well, I don't know about myself. I want to be a breeder, but lately first aid also had given me interest in medical stuff as well."

"Being a Pokémon doctor is incredibly difficult." Ash said. "A friend of my mother had to study for 15 years before she was ready and passed from the institute. A Nurse Joy studies for 12 years after High School to be given a more bigger post, like in the major cities."

"Well I'm no Nurse." Brock joked. "I'm a full fledged male. So I'm more of a Doctor."

"It's the time period I'm talking about!" Ash exclaimed. "Not the gender! Well, forgetting that, it's upon what your heart says."

"True." Brock nodded, reading his book again. "Well, I guess we'll see where the future leads us to."

* * *

" **Welcome to the Amethyst town Pokémon Musical!** " As usual, Gillian gave his introduction. " **I, Gillian, shall be your host for this wonderful event! Without any further await, let me introduce our judges! First and foremost, we have Amethyst town's own, Nurse Joy!** "

"It is good to be here." The sweet nurse bowed, smiling brightly. "I hope to enjoy each and every one of the performances."

" **And then we have, Head Clown Roan of the singing seas circus!** " The clown, still wearing similar clothes like they had seen in vermilion, grinned widely.

"It is always a pleasure to be in one of these things." The clown grinned. "It makes my days."

" **Now, I will briefly explain the rule changes for the audience."** Gillian said into hi Mic. " **First of all, participants won't be allowed outside the backstage from now on. They will have to compulsorily sit in the back stage where they will be provided with whatever they need. Furthermore, after much discussion, the Musical committee has agreed to let use of 2 Pokémon in the second task, so in total, in a Musical, a conductor will be allowed to use a total of 3 different Pokémon. These are the only changes that had to be spoken. Now, let us begin!** "

Yancy's turn, this time, was in the top 4 performers, and this time, she had a surprise, a Vulpix. Most would think what would a Pokémon so little be able to do, but Vulpix surprised everyone when she drew her painting. It was fast, incredibly amazing, and wonderfully made. It was a painting of Ash's Pikachu, while it was facing his Snorlax. Pikachu's cheeks were sparkling with yellow electricity, his tail standing tall right behind him and his eyes showing the confidence it usually had when in battle, while Snorlax was growling as well, it's hand covered in the cold, blue energy of Ice Punch. Within 5 minutes, she had created the incredibly real painting of when Pikachu had battled Snorlax for the first time, when Ash had caught him. To further make an impression, both the Pokémon had many bruises on them, probably due to the battle, and even the surrounding areas of route 12 were perfectly drawn. And she finished it the exact second the timer hit 5.00 minutes.

"Amazing." Nurse Joy's eyes were wide. She had seen this young lady's performences on TV. When she first saw her Vulpix, she thought it wasn't going to go as well as she hoped. But this Vulpix, which she could make out hadn't been in her team long enough, had surprised her. "Very well done, I haven't seen professional painters do such a good job."

"I have to agree." Roan had a smile on his face. "Much different from your usual performances, but none the less amazing. You will really go far."

She walked out once the applause died down, and into the backstage where she waited for the points to show up. There were many people after her performance, and she had to wait long for the result. Finally, they showed up.

Her name was first this time, making her grin in pride.

"I knew you were going to do great Vulpix!" Yancy whispered to Vulpix's Pokéball. "Now all we have to hope for is to win. Cleafable, Meowth, let's see how much our training played off.

* * *

"I must say Delia, you were right." A woman, probably the age of Delia, said as she sipped her tea. She had Brown coloured hair, and blue eyes. She was wearing a casual blue coloured jeans and a yellow top. Along with her was another woman, similar to their age. She also had brown hair, but her eyes were green. "That girl is good."

"For someone who recently got their Pokémon, and has been living like that, she definitely shows promise." The other woman nodded. "I just hope that Leaf turns out to be as determined as her."

"All the 4 who started out that day have got an incredible talent in Pokémon." The final guest, Professor Oak, said as he looked at Yancy's first 2nd task battle against someone in his teens with her Cleafable. Till now, she was winning. "Incredible talent, but all of them have some flaw or the other."

"Well, I guess I understand Gary's fault to be his over confidence and arrogance, just like his father." Jane Oak, the mother of Gary Oak and the woman with blue eyes said, looking at her father in law. "And I guess Leaf's is her rather... perky attitude."

"Got that right." Isabelle Green, Leaf Green's mother, sighed. "She doesn't know when to shut up, or when to stop a conversation. She also tends to be a little obnoxious."

"Yes, correct. But I don't know what fault Ash has." Jane finished, looking at Delia. "You've trained him well."

"He has faults." Delia said, smiling in slight pride at the thought of her only son. "His usual quiet demeanour and his nobility are his faults. He will jump in a lake to save a dying Pokémon or Human, even if said Pokémon are of a theif or the dying human is a terrorist. His main fault is that he overlooks his own demands for the demands of others. I really hope these new friends of his can help him break that habit."

"True." Professor Oak nodded. "He really does need to open up and talk a lot. He is a very intelligent boy."

"But it is still hard to believe they've grown up so fast." Jane said. "Gary's near his 5th gym right now. 4 more and he'll be able to challenge the league."

"Same with Ash." Delia said, turning her attention to the professor. "And you're saying the league is going to have a tournament before they can challenge the elite 4 right?"

"Yes." The old professor nodded. "It was quite a surprise they were ready to break old traditions to do so. But I can' complain, can I?"

"According to you, who do you think will win the league, if the 4 reach up till that point?" Isabelle asked, curious as to what did he think her daughter's and her friends chances were. "I personally feel that Leaf will easily move past the preliminary rounds."

"I can't exactly predict that." Professor Oak said, thinking carefully. "All 4 of them show incredible potential. But if you want me to give a single answer. I think Ash, or 'Red' as he has chosen his screen name, will have a good chance to win the league, and even defeat the elite 4."

"You think so Professor?" Genuinely surprised, Delia asked him. She knew her son's ability in training as proved by his achievements in having his Pokémon for a mere amount of 3 months. "I mean, Ash is really good in training, and he has shown impressive progress, but I don't think he can win against the elite 4 at such a young age."

"Don't underestimate your son, Delia." Samuel said. "He's been shown to be quite resourceful and dedicated in the time of need. If you want a more deep explanation, then this is how it goes. Boris, though a good trainer, doesn't want to continue in that path. He wants go ahead in the same industry as his father, the demolition industry, and he is more interested in exploring as well. He has quite a good collection of Pokémon, all in the average level of someone who has 3 badges, but he is not looking forward to go ahead and battle the league. So he's naturally out. Comming to Leaf, her problem is that she focuses only on 1 particular Pokémon of her own, like her Venusaur. Her Venusaur is her strongest Pokémon on level 44, but the rest of her Pokémon barely scratch level 35. That is not ideal for someone who wants to go far ahead in Pokémon training. It will not only decrease the level of trust between her Pokémon and herself, but also make her weak to stronger opponents as she doesn't have a well balanced team. Finally, there is Gary. If anyone from the group comes close to giving Ash a challenge, it is him. He has a wide variety of Pokémon, a total of 78 of them, even if many of them are of the same species. His 'A-team' as he calls it are all on a high, balanced level of 40 to 42, so he has a good chance as well, but his problem is the versatility of his Pokémon. Because of his higher number of Pokémon, he thinks that one Pokémon doesn't need to learn moves that go beyond their type. He thinks he has all covered due to his number, but that is not right. The Elite 4 have Pokémon that know moves of all types, and one is only allowed to use 5 Pokémon against the elite 4. So that is where Gary loses out. And Ash has everything. His Pikachu is on the highest level, on 48, quite above the usual levels of his other Pokémon, but with a reason. He has a Snorlax, who is also around 45, a Charmeleon, around 45, an Ivysaur, around 45. The other 2, Squirtle and Eevee, are still young, but Squirtle is also on level 30, a very, very respectable level for a Pokémon not even a month old yet."

"That's impressive." Isabelle said, eyebrows raised. She was once a Pokémon breeder, and she knew a what a chode it was to raise Pokémon from birth. "I guess you are right, Ash does have a good chance. But the elite 4 aren't weak, at all."

"Well, like Professor said, we can't predict what will happen." Delia said, looking back at the screen, where till now, Yancy had won the Musical. "That was her second win. She's also growing quite well."

* * *

"Phuaaah!" Yancy stretched, a big, happy smile on her face. "I'm so happy today!"

"Well, that is what the feeling of victory is." Ash said, known to the feeling quite well. "You did real good. It was a swoop considering you had no particular challenge, but still did quite good."

"Your Vulpix was more interesting." Brock said, nodding. "I didn't know she had seen the battle between Ash's Pikachu and Snorlax."

"She was in my hands the entire time. I took a look at the Pokédex and found out that Vulpix had good memory, so had her draw the scene." Yancy said, blushing under the praise and looked at Ash. "I hope it was good."

"It was." Ash nodded, rubbing Pikachu's head who grinned. "Pikachu approved of it."

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered. "Pika Pikachu!"

"I'll pass on the message." Yancy cheerfully said, rubbing Pikachu's head herself. "We had to train a lot to make that possible!"

"Now, then, shall we think of what is to come?" Brock suggested. "We need to go through the mountains, so we need to restock first."

"I'll need some new supplies as well." Ash said, looking down at his Pokéballs and wincing. "Especially for Snorlax."

"So we need Alpha Berries, some Snorlax chow, and also food for all types of Pokémon." Brock made a list. "Do we have travel stuff?"

"Yup." Ash said, looking at Yancy for confirmation. She was a little too high in the feeling of victory, but she also nodded, looking at her newest Rom in awe. "She also does. Do you want to go to the shop now?"

"Yes." Brock nodded, looking at the wristwatch. "It's still nearing 1700, and we can wrap this up right now. The sooner, the better. But first, do we need to go to the ATM? Or credit's okay?"

"I have some on me. The rest will be credit." Ash said, shrugging. "I drew for Yancy yesterday because her card's still not arrived. We have asked for it to be delivered at Pallet, and Mum will then take care of sending it to us. What about you?"

"I'm good." Brock said after checking his wallet. How did Brock earn money if he was just travelling to be a breeder? Simple, he also battled, like Ash. Ash didn't battle against all the trainers that came in the middle of travels. "Well, so what's the major thing we need?"

"Berries, all of them. Fruit and powder." Ash said, recalling the number of supplies he had on him. "Some universal Pokéfood, some certain type Pokéfood. I think it's time I gave Poison type food to Ivysaur and Dragon and Flying type food to Charmeleon, both of them are really close to evolution. Pikachu's good with his normal stuff. He just needs some ketchup, tomato, I don't know how he got that addiction. And Eevee needs her usual formula."

"Well, same for me. Rhyhorn also needs some Alpha berries." Brock said, wincing at the thought. "Ash, what about Snorlax? Are you going to carry him along?"

"Yes, I got an idea." Ash said. "I'll keep what I need on me, and send the rest to Professor Oak. He says he will send me the food for my Snorlax if I'm about to reach an end."

"Well, that is a good plan." Brock nodded after thinking about it. "How many Alpha berries does a snorlax need? 30 per day right?"

"Yes, something like that." Ash nodded. "I'll buy a lot of powder as well. Luckily Snorlax isn't like the other ones who just eat and do nothing. He's motivated to battle as well."

"Yeah, you got luck with that." Brock agreed. "So food for Pokémon, done. Now, food for us. That I'll handle, but it will be better if you take some easy to cook meals with you as well. If we get separated, then you'll be in trouble."

"I guess I'll buy a few packs of instant noodles and Pasta, and some Coffee as well." Ash said. "And what about you, Yancy?"

"Huh?" Yancy finally came down to earth when she noticed the 2 looking at her in amusement. Blushing a cherry pink, she quickly put her Rom in it's case and paid more attention to the conversation going on. "W What were you talking about again?"

"About how it is a good idea if we keep some instant meals with us." Ash said. "So we don't have to look for food if we're lost."

"Yeah, I'll get some." Yancy nodded. "Also, speaking of food, I need some for Vulpix as well."

"Already taken care off." Brock said, sighing. "Man, all this stocking isn't easy."

"I know right?" Ash said. "Imagine me, a 10 year old, on the start of my journey, going into a mart for the first time to buy Pokéchow."

"Heh, that would have been a sight." Brock chuckled, the 3 comming to a stop in front of the Pokémart. "But you are more mature than the usual trainers, so you might have had an idea as to what to do and how to choose for your Pokémon. I think Pikachu having stayed out of his pokeball helped as well."

"Well, I wasn't so lucky." Yancy said. A snort escaped from Ash's mouth as Yancy pouted. "I disarrayed all the shelves, and the shopkeeper didn't trust me without anyone around. Ash had to literally hold my hand at that time so I could get things for Meowth and myself."

"It happens." Brock said, walking inside the mart. "Alright, Ash, you and Yancy go to the berries section. You know what berries to get and what not. I'll get the food stuff."

* * *

The next day, early morning at 0630, the 3 were up and awake, all ready to get outside and get on the road to Fuscia. It was a long, long journey according to the Pokégear, all the way through Amethyst pass and down to Route 13/14. And it was also going to be one filled with training for Ash as he still didn't believe that he was ready to challenge the gym, even though 4 of his Pokémon were easily strong enough to take on Koga, the gym leader of Fuscia city.

"The city looks so small from up here." Yancy said, standing on the edge of the road looking at the city from on top of the passway towards Amethyst mountains and Amethyst Pass. "It's like a dollhouse!"

"Well, we are somewhat about 10 miles from the city and also quite high up." Brock said. "We were really fast. Good thing we found that shortcut. We even got some training in!"

"Yeah, the 2 trainers we battled each gave a ton of EXP." Ash was tinkering about in his Pokédex. "Hey Brock, how many Pokémon are there in Kanto?"

"Umm, 150, I think." Brock said. "You have the Pokédex, I think you might know it better."

"Well, here it says 151." Ash said, showing the last column of the Pokédex. And it read No. 151. "How many legendaries do we have? Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno and Mew, right?"

"As far as my information goes, yeah." Brock said, looking closely. "You're right, it does say 151. But how is that even possible? Did you contact Professor Oak about this?"

"Well, I just noticed this." Ash said. "And the range is a bit off right now. I don't think I'll be able to talk to him properly right now if I do. But still, it is curious as to how there are 151 Pokémon in the Pokédex. A glitch perhaps?"

"We never know." Brock said, once again looking towards the city. They had chosen to rest at that point, after walking for 4 hours straight. It was just hitting 1100, and they had been sitting there in a small clearing off the road for a while. "So from here, it's all mountainous routes."

"Yup." Ash nodded, looking down at Eevee who had been curled up on his lap. "Eevee, you need to go back in your Pokéball now. We are going to go through some real tough terrain."

"Vui!" Eevee whined, pouting up at him. Ash shook his head, causing her pout to increase more. "Vee!"

"I promise I will call you back out as soon as we stop." Ash said, rubbing the fox's head. Eevee purred one last time before she was sucked inside the Pokéball. "Pikachu."

"Pika!" Pikachu, who was curled up on a rock beside him, perked up and jumped on his shoulder, stretching once. Ash picked his bag up and fastened it tight. "Pikapika!"

"I know." Ash nodded, looking at Yancy and Brock, both of whom were also picking their stuff up. "According to the Pokégear, there will be no resting area for 80 miles once we enter Amethyst pass, so the entrance gate is the last area where we can stop. After that, it's a full day worth of travel."

"So our next stop will be the Amethyst Pass Entrance." Yancy said. Ash nodded. "And how far is that?"

"30 more miles." Ash said, pointing towards the winding road that lead up the hills. "That way. Till now, there were small slopes, now, there are going to be big ones. We have stairs for travellers, but I think following the roads will be less tiring."

"Well, 30 miles means till lunch time." Brock said, fastening his bag before slinging it on his back. "And lunch time means about 1400 to 1430 today. So if we want to enter the pass today, we need to be there before lunchtime is over. So we have around...3 to 4 hours."

"Let's see how far up we can reach before resting." Ash said, starting to walk, the other 2 following behind. "Either way, we should be in route 14 by tomorrow if we want to reach Fuscia in 3 days."

* * *

"Alright Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!" Ash called out to Charmeleon. They were battling a trainer who they had encountered on the road, and it was Ash's turn. It was a single battle, and Charmeleon was currently winning against the man's Graveler. Charmeleon released a barrage of flames at his opponent. However, the Hiker they were facing was at least well versed in battle.

"Don't give up Graveler, use rollout to lessen the damage!" The man told his Graveller, who started to roll towards Charmeleon, enduring the flames, and rushing towards Charmeleon. Charmeleon snarled, and started to glow.

"Huh?" Ash said dumbfoundedly. Behind him, Yancy and Brock Gasped. "Is he...?"

Charmeleon grew, and grew, till he surpassed Ash's height. 2 draconic wings appeared out of his back, and his tail also enlarged, now having a much more draconic visiage. The glow subsided to show off a pure black Charizard with an enlarged blue coloured flame on it's tail, it's red coloured eyes glaring at Graveler. With a roar, Charizard slashed at the oncoming Graveler with a glowing purple claw, knocking it out cold.

 _Charizard, the Flame Pokémon. It is a fire and flying type. In intense battles, the flame on Charizard's tail grown more intense, but it never uses his flames on opponents weaker than itself. Upon evolution, this Charizard has learnt the move Dragon Claw and Shadow Claw. It has also gained the secondary ability Solar Power._

Ash looked at Charizard, who had turned back around and was looking at him. Finally, Ash grinned at him in pride, causing Charizard to roar in joy, and pick up Ash and give him a big hug.

"Ouch, Charizard, you are strong! It hurts when you hug me like that!" Ash cried as he was engulfed in the death hug. Pikachu had jumped on Charizards shoulder before he could also be crushed and gave it's own form of congratulations. Charizard released him, and let loose a giant, blue coloured flame in the sky, roaring it's power. "But I am proud. You are now extremely strong then I met you."

"Charrrr~~~~" Charizard growled in satisfaction. Ash called him back into his Pokéball and finished the after battle business with the Hiker, leaving the three alone again.

"Wow Ash, your Charmeleon finally evolved!" Yancy said excitedly. "It was so cool!"

"Well, it was about time." Brock nodded. "Charizard is your second strongest Pokémon. I guess he will surpass Pikachu soon enough."

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu vehemently denied, glaring at Brock. Brock sweatdropped and smiled sheepishly.

"S Sorry Pikachu, you're the strongest." That was one damn prideful rodent. "But still, ever since he was a Charmander, his progress has been great."

"Yes." Ash nodded, looking at Charizard's Pokéball with glimmering eyes. "He has. Now, we have to work on mastering his power. I didn't even know Charizard could learn Shadow Claw. It also is curious as to how Charizard is black. Giovanni did said something about being an experiment. I'll have to look in on this."

"So you'll contact Lance again." Yancy said distastefully. She still hadn't forgiven them for doing some 'awesome spy stuff' and not telling her about it, and she held it at Lance as well. "Hmph, well then, go ahead."

"Geez Yancy, all we did was for your protection. Mom would have killed me if something happened to you." Ash rolled his eyes. Yancy pouted and avoided his gaze, causing him to sigh. "Well, can't be helped then. How far are we from the end of this pass?"

"Still almost 70 more miles to go." Brock said, looking at his Pokégear and sighing. "And we're already nearing 1700. Ash, I think that we should have taken the route 13. Even though over the sea, we would have atleast found good places to rest, unlike this rocky caverns."

"At the time, however, the mountains sounded better." Ash said, looking at the road ahead of him. The talks of a partly paved road? Yeah, it was all wrong. It was like a large, nature safari, with 2 official entry points. Other than that, it was all hardcore mountainous terrain, with no proper places to rest and sleep. Since it was a pass, the air was also not fresh and what came from the sky, at least what was visible of it since they were going in between 2 mountain walls. And they had travelled like 20 miles already, and it was at least less of a climb and more of a walk, just with a lot of rocks and stones. It wasn't tiring, it was just annoying to climb one large rock, walk for 10 steps, and climb another, and repeat the entire thing over and over for the past 4 hours after they started after lunch. "We got a basic idea of what the path ahead is like right? How far till the next 'clearing' of sorts?"

"Well, judging from how it has went, I would say about... 10 more miles." Brock said, looking ahead and putting down his Pokégear. "Well, let's get this done with. If we reach that place by 1900, then we can stop there."

"Yup." Yancy nodded, looking at her legs. "My legs are already killing me. Walking on paved roads is so much better, and easier. At least I can help somehow, unlike right now when I am completely confused as to what to do and what to no."

"Just follow the way." Ash said, pointing towards the direction they were going at. "I hope there's really a clearing out there."

"If not, then we'll just find the next narrow path and rest there." Brock said, starting to walk. "Come on, the faster we go, the faster we will get out of here."

* * *

"That is the last time we go through that route." Ash decided as they finally came within visible distance of the end of the Amethyst pass. All of them were tired, exhausted, hurting and really, really needed a good night's sleep. The only way they were getting that was if they reached Fuscia by night, which was impossible as it was already nearing noon time, and there was still a journey about 100 to 120 miles left, meaning 3 more days of walk. And 3 more days of walk meant no good old Pokémon Centre Rice and Curry yet. No offenses to Brock, but even he didn't make rice and curry as good as the Pokémon centre Chefs. "I have half the mind to get on Charizard and let him fly us there."

"Then why don't we do it?" Yancy asked, literally shouting. She was the most used to long distance walking out of the 3 of them considering she grew up in Viridian Forest, but she hated, _hated_ walking across rocks and slopes. Heights just didn't suit her, making him wonder what will her reaction be when they reached the Indigo league, actually putting it logically, what would her reaction be when they were on that crazily high altitude on Charizard. "It will be so much easier!"

"Because A, Charizard's wings aren't exactly that strong yet because he still hasn't got used to it properly, and B, because you are very, very afraid of heights." Ash said, deadpanning. "If I remember correctly, I was sure I heard you saying how afraid you were before we entered the pass and-."

"Alright, I admit, shut up!" Yancy exclaimed, glaring at Ash through a flushed face. Ash shook his head and then decided to instead focus on the path ahead. "Hmph, I hope this is the last time we have to climb a mountain."

"Well, Cinnabar has a mountain." Brock said, looking up from his Pokégear. "And also pallet has some cliffs here and there. And where the league will be held, Indigo Plateau, it is a giant mountain in the first place!"

"Please shut up!" Yancy squealed, pushing her hat down to cover her ears as to not listen to him. "Don't give me nightmare fuel!"

"The real nightmare fuel is what you can see from Indigo Plateau." Ash said, his eyes gaining a slightly faraway look. "Mt. Silver is said to be the tallest mountain in the west and the south, or at least in Kanto and Johto. You can only see the peak from Indigo Plateau, and that also when it is so far away."

"Alright, can we stop about trying to give me a heart attack at the age of 10?!" Yancy snapped. "And start talking about what we are supposed to do in Fuscia except Ash's gym battle?"

"First of all, we go to the Safari zone." Brock said. "Then, Ash's gym battle. After that, Ash says he wants to visit the Seafoam islands."

"Yes, there are Ice Types there, probably the only place in Kanto except maybe the Sevii Islands that has Ice types. It'll be a good place to train. After that, we go north towards Saffron." Ash said. "Through the Biking road to Celadon. I have heard that the 'high alert' will be brought down within the week, and all routes will be re-opened."

"And that will be our chance to get Saffron done with." Brock said, the 3 of them entering the Exit/Entrance of the Amethyst pass to route 13/14. There were very few people there, once again true to the fact that there were very less people that travelled through Amethyst pass, only a couple Hikers sitting in the sitting areas, relaxing.

Ash, Yancy and Brock also decided to have a rest, and eat whatever was available in the Air Conditioned relaxing area, meaning some sandwiches, and some hot chocolate milk.

There was still a long journey ahead of them, and they needed all the rest they could get.

* * *

"Hey!" A voice called out to him while they were walking down route 14 towards route 15. "You there, with the Pikachu!"

Ash turned around with Brock and Yancy to see a strange man running towards them. He was wearing a typical punk boy outfit, with tattoos and chains and all.

"Like, you should totally evolve your Pikachu." The man said, handing him a thunderstone. Ash looked at it, raised his eyebrows, and looked at the man as if he was dumb. "He would be much more stronger than in that small state."

"First of all, who are you, and why should I listen to you?" Ash asked, his eyes narrowing down. "And second, Pikachu is strong enough without evolution, and he will only evolve when he wants to, or if he wants to."

"But then he'll stay weak!" The punk boy retorted. "Pokémon only grow strong when they evolve!"

"I don't think so." Brock shook his head, interrupting. "Pokémon grow strong when a trainer raises them the right way. Evolving a Pokémon when not ready will not only violate a Pokémon's trust in you, but also make them much more likely to leave you and not listen to you."

"Feh, then the trainer is weak." The punk boy snorted, glaring at Ash. "You there, let's battle, right here right now. If I, Daraias, win, you evolve your Pikachu."

"That is if you win." Ash said, glaring at the punk boy. Pikachu jumped of Ash's shoulder, and sparked his cheeks dangerously. The boy walked behind and sent out his own Pokémon, a Raichu, as he had expected him to have. The Raichu behaved just like the Pikachu, gangly and punkish, growling at Pikachu. Pikachu returned the growls with dangerous sparks. "You first."

"You'll regret this." Darais smirked arrogantly. "Raichu, use Hyper Beam!"

Raichu took a deep breath, and let out a yellow coloured beam towards Pikachu. But Pikachu didn't even need the command to move. He simply jumped out of the way and let the Hyper beam impact the ground doing no damage at all.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack." Ash said. Pikachu gained a white sheen around it and started to run towards Raichu at a very fast pace, the white sheen following. Faster than the Raichu could move, Pikachu collided against it head on, making it stumble and fall down in pain. "Don't stop, use Iron tail!"

Pikachu jumped up in the air, and then smashed his glowing white tail down on Raichu, knocking it out. The boy, Daraias, snarled, and recalled Pikachu, sending out another Pokémon. This time it was a Nidoking.

 _Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon. One flap of his tail can snap a Metal pole with relative ease. Once this Pokémon goes on a Rampage, there is no stopping it. This Nidoking is on Level 38 and has the ablility poison point._

"Face my wrath, shrimp!" The boy growled. "Nidoking, Earthquake!"

Nidoking growled and raised his leg onto the ground. Ash narrowed his eyes.

'Even if he is almost 10 levels below mine, an Earthquake from that distance will harm Pikachu badly.' Ash thought, mind whacking. 'But I cannot be careless. If I ask Pikachu to jump atop Nidoking, he'll be affected by Poison Point and be poisoned. No, I'll have to finish this fast and quick. Alright, to avoid getting KOed by earthquake first.'

"Pikachu!" Ash called out to his starter. "Jump exactly when his leg touches the earth!"

Pikachu did so. Just when the mightly leg touched the ground, Pikachu jumped as high he could, over Nidoking's own height, avoiding getting KOed by the earthquake.

"Now, use Brick Break!" He knew that there was no avoiding it. Now, the only thing he had to hope was that Pikachu's static would be as effective as his opponents Poison point. Spinned and slammed a chop on top of Nidoking who roared in pain. "Good, now jump back!"

Quickly using the momentum, Pikachu jumped back using his legs, landing a safe distance away from Nidoking. Daraias growled.

"Nidoking, use Poison sting!" Nidoking's horn started to glow in a purple shade, small needles made out of poison headed towards Pikachu. "Then charge ahead with a Mega Punch!"

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge the Poison stings!" Ash said, his eyes shining. He knew what was going to happen. "Then Jump over his hand and onto Nidoking!"

Pikachu did as so, and easily dodged both the oncoming attacks, now very, very close to Nidoking's face.

"Now use Quick Tail to finish him off!" Quick Tail, the mixture of Iron Tail and Quick Attack was one of the best moves Ash had in Pikachu's arsenal, more moves already on the way. But for now, it would prove enough.

Pikachu started to glow in a metallic aura and with a loud cry of 'Pikaaaaaaa!', he smashed his glowing white tail onto Nidoking's face so fast that all they could see was a blur. Nidoking was actually slammed off the ground, and almost 2 to 3 feet in the air before he landed in a heap, out cold. Pikachu was panting, but still stood tall, cheeks sparking with electricity.

"Y y you, you would dare embarrass me like that?!" Daraias growled, recalling Nidoking, and glaring at Ash. "I'll remember this humiliation, you will pay in the league!"

And then the punk like boy ran off. Ash shook his head and picked Pikachu on his arms, who sighed in content and was quick to curl up. Eevee, who was sleeping in Ash's bag, popped out and curiously watched her 'big brother' sleeping on her 'father's' arms, and wondered why he was so tired.

"Pikachu, you did good." Ash said, rubbing the rodent's head who cooed tiredly. "Defeating 2 Pokémon who resist electricity is a good task. You are ready for the challenges ahead."

"I wonder what was wrong with him." Yancy said, glaring at the directiong the Punk boy had come from. "He was so rude!"

"We'll meet people like that on our Journey." Brock said, spraying a potion over Pikachu to heal the tiredness. Even though Pikachu wasn't hurt at all, he still was very tired, very, very tired. Ash looked at Eevee, who quickly jumped out of Ash's bag, and instead, Ash put Pikachu inside of it, who was quick to go to sleep. "He deserves that, he had been battling the entire road from Amethyst to Fuscia."

"And now that we're very close, let's quickly reach there so all of our Pokémon can get the rest they deserve." Ash said, Eevee now sitting in his hands. All of them made brisk walk, and in an hour, finished the 200 mile journey from Amethyst town to Fuchsia city. The first thing they did was get inside the Pokémon centre, and book their room and gave their Pokémon to Nurse Joy for some much needed professional care. And here we found all of them, lying on their beds, tired beyond belief.

"Finally." Yancy exclaimed. "A good, nice, bed beneath our backs! I know I sound like an old woman, but my back was literally killing me!"

"You are not alone." Ash said. His eyes were also close, and his cap and jacket were put inside his bag, an empty glass of water on his table. "Brock, the next time we go on such a long trip, remind me to take a route which has Pokémon Centre's or at least resting area's in it."

"I'll remember that yes." Brock said, the most tired out of the 3. He had the job to cook, so of course he would be tired. "Guys, if you're hungry, please go and eat your food. I think I will sleep early today."

"It's only 1830. Are you sure you're alright?" Ash asked, worried for his friend. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, just tired." Brock said, pulling up the covers. His bed was the last one from the window, or the first one when they entered the room. "I'll eat extra tomorrow morning."

"Alright then." Ash said, getting up and stretching. "The Pokémon will be ready in an hour, apparently all of them need some grooming, especially Pikachu. Nurse Joy looked apocalyptic at the same time proud at having Pokémon in such good state after such a big journey."

"Well, let's hope she doesn't slap any card or something on us." Brock muttered. "Get mine back for me."

"Alright." Ash said, getting up. He didn't take his jacket, just his black t-shirt which he pulled out and with Yancy, walked outside the room. "Good night, I'll bring a sandwich and keep it in the fridge if you're hungry in the night."

Brock only grunted in acceptance, and he was out like a light. Ash and Yancy decided to go down into the cafeteria and enjoy their much wanted rice and curry.

"Hey Ash." Yancy asked him once they had sat down and given their orders. "What is this ' Middle Graduation exam' you and Brock were talking about?"

"It's an exam everyone has to give when they're 14/15." Ash said. "It's like graduation from Middle School to High school, and is the lowest required level of graduation, at least in kanto, to get a job. It'll be a low class one, but it is needed. It can be given by anyone who holds a trainer card/gym leader card or a normal school going student. The Viridian Institute lets us give the exam without attending any classes and just paying the fees. It's easy, if you want I can ask Mom to enter your name in as well as mine."

"Well, I don't know much about academics." Yancy said, twirling her fingers together and avoiding his gaze, blushing. "So I don't know if I can pass."

"I'll teach everything needed to you." Ash said, smiling. "If you want to."

"R really?" Her face brightened up. "You promise?!"

"Yup." Ash nodded. "You can also give the High School Graduation Exam when you are 16/17 after that."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I for sure want to give the least one." Yancy said, smiling beautifully at him. "I don't know what I would have done without you Ash."

"I'm sure you would have managed." Ash said, avoiding her smile. For some reason, his cheeks felt warm, and he had a feeling asking someone, namely his Mom or Brock about it, would end badly for him. "Would have been a little difficult, but you would have managed."

"I'm sure it won't have been possible." Yancy said. "So, what are we going to do after the league is over?"

"Well, I've said that before, I want to go to the Johto region and try the regional league challenge there." Ash said, closing his eyes. "A new league, many new Pokémon, and an entire new journey. Do you want to come along?"

"Of course!" Yancy nodded cheerfully. "I want to see if there are Pokémon Musicals there as well!"

"Well, let's make a promise then." Ash said, raising his pinky finger. "We'll go to the Johto region together once we finish our respective leagues/orchestra's."

"Hmm!" Yancy nodded cheerfully, twirling her own pinky finger with his. "It's a promise!"

However, all wasn't as good as the 2 seemed it to be. Far away, once again in a land sheltered in a dark mist, a certain someone was talking with another certain someone.

"Is it ready?" The dark voice asked his 'minion.'

"Yes my lord." The other voice, a voice filled with satisfaction and pleasure said, no, purred. "It is ready. Only a few years worth of preparation now, and we'll finally be ready to show your dominion."

"Good." The dark voice said. "You will feel my wrath, Aaron! You will feel my wrath in the realms of the dead! When I take over the world, your descendent will be the first one to die!"

Dark notions continued to move, unknown of the good stirring in the world opposite from theirs.

 **The End**.

 **Author's Notes- Sorry for the small Hiatus Guys. If you didn't know, I had my finals going on. Sem Finals to be exact. Had to study real hard for it, and following that a small short vacation to Europe I literally had this written down on pen and paper and took me 2 days to type it.**

 **Anyways, Chapter 14 is now on, and the next part of the journey will now begin. I know, I made a mess of the musical, but it is a pain to write it in the plane going from Paris to London. No privacy, sheesh! On a second note, British Airways, you rock! Also, yes, Charizard can learn both Dragon Claw and Shadow Claw as egg moves. How he got it will be explained probably in the next chapter or the chapter after that. And about the graduation test thing, in my country, municipal schools allow one to give exams after studying at home if they are of backward class parents who can't afford the school tution. And yes, i do know that Charmander and Charmeleon do not have black skin and blue flames until they become Charizard, or even blue flames if we talk about it. This Charizard is a special one, you'll find out about it in the upcomming chapters.**

 **Anyways, the usual stuff, next update will be of maybe The Dragon King, or NGMA, I don't know, I have them written down, half of them at least. I'll try to keep the updates coming. Also, upon noticing your comments, I have decided to do a major Rehaul and am currently working on the first few chapters of this story trying to solve any and all grammatical errors in this story and all of my other stories as well. PM me if you have any questions/suggestions.**

 **Till then, Omnipotent97 signing off.**


	15. Safari Zone- Fuscia Gym Battle

**Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon, it belongs to Satoshi Taijiri/Nintendo/Game Freak and/or whoever owns a stake in the Pokémon franchise.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 15- Fuscia City Safari Zone and Gym.

Fuscia City was probably the most quietest city in the entire region. It was big, and at the same time, so calm and peaceful that one wouldn't feel that it was a ciy. With there being a lot less high-rises in this city than any other city, Fuscia city had a certain tone to it's surroundings, and the safari zone only doubled up that feeling.

The Safari Zone had been in Fuscia city of perhaps hundreds of years. Of course, it started as a preservation sanctuary until the old wars started and the country was in need of money, and the sanctuary turned into a park where one could go and catch Pokémon. But that had lead to a complete other disaster.

"Whoa, trainers literally razed this place to the ground to get a single Pokémon?" Yancy asked as she read about the history of the Safari Zone. While it was true that none of them wanted to catch any Pokémon in particular, it didn't hurt to go and have a trip around the area to see what exactly lived in there. But the major reason for the popularity of the Safari zone was a certain type of Pokémon, called Dratini. "A Dratini? I have heard of that Pokémon, isn't it supposed to be the first stage of the Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon Dragonite?"

"Yes." Ash nodded, taking a bite of his toast. It was early in the morning, around 0830. All of them had woken up with Brock waking up the latest and being fresher than he had ever been. A good night's sleep did turn his mood upside down, and was off to his antics again, meaning, he was pestering Nurse Joy again, and Ash didn't want to get caught up in that particular mess again. He was reading a book on Poison type Pokémon, trying to come up with some strategies to battle Koga of the Fuscia City gym. He had a small idea as to what and who he was going to face, he had heard about Koga's team consisting of Arbok, Golbat, Muk and Weezing. That was one hell of a team the man had, all of them being powerful enough to wipe out his own team. He had plans for who he would use, Pikachu and Charizard were obviously a go. He was going to give Squirtle a chance, and maybe Snorlax. It all depended on how much training he could get today. "Dratini is a very strong Pokémon that can come in very handy in battles. I have never seen one myself, but I know that Dragonair's and Dragonite's are the strongest Pokémon you can find in the wild except the legendary birds and Mew."

"Well, here it says there have been sightings of a Dratini in the Safari zone of Fuscia City." Yancy read out from her article. "And that there have also been tries to catch the Dratini by many trainers, but no one ever fishes it out. The Pokémon league, hearing the pleas of the warden of the Fuscia city Safari Zone warden has prohibit anyone from entering the Safari zone with Pokémon, and they have to use special Pokéballs called Safari Balls to catch Pokémon. You get 6 hours worth of time to explore the area and 30 Safari Balls, along with a Fishing Rod and use to a boat to go in the deeper places."

"Well, that isn't something new, it's been going on for the past few months or so." Ash said, turning another page. "But I don't want to catch any Pokémon."

*Tringg**Tringgg*

Ash's Pokégear started to ring. Said boy raised his eyebrows and glanced at the device, surprised to see Professor Oak's number on it.

"I talked to him yesterday." Ash muttered, wondering what he wanted. He pressed the answer button and put the Pokégear to his ear. "Hello Professor Oak."

" _Hello Ash._ " The professor's voice came from the other side. He was as jovial and excited as ever. " _I know I talked to you yesterday, but I have a request to make._ "

"Of course." Ash spoke. He had nothing to do today, and could handle anything the Old man threw at him. "As long as it is around Fuscia City, I can complete it today. If not, well, it'll take some time."

" _Oh no, it's nothing like that. It_ _ **is**_ _a bit of a hassle though._ " The old Professor said. " _You see, in the Safari Zone of Fuscia City, there are certain Pokémon that don't usually appear in the wild. No, I am not talking about Dratini, I have adequate data of one considering I myself had a Dratini once, I am talking about the Pokémon like Chancey, Nidorina, Nidoran Female and of course, Tauros._ "

"Really?" Ash wondered, and tried to recall his adventure till now, and found truth in his words. "Oh yeah, I've pretty much went everywhere in Kanto except Cinnabar Island and Seafoam Islands, and I've never seen those Pokémon before."

" _Yes, that is the exact reason I want to study these Pokémon_." The Professor said. " _I would like it if you can catch at least one of each of those Pokémon, and all the Pokémon you can find in the Safari Zone. It will really help my research."_

"All of them?" Ash wondered how many Pokémon there would be in the Safari zone, and sweatdropped at the thought. "Uh... Professor, I am pretty sure your ranch isn't big enough to hold all the Pokémon in the Safari Zone."

" _I don't mean all of them, I mean one of each species._ " The Professor Clarified, and chuckled. " _Of course my ranch wouldn't be able to hold that many Pokémon, there are so many of them!_ "

"Well, that is manageable. I will have to make a couple trips to catch every of one species though." Ash said. "Can you ring me once more when you think all of them are caught?"

" _Of course. I will stay in touch with you. Thank you, Ash._ " After saying his goodbye's, he cut the phone and sighed. Yancy looked at him curiously. He sighed and explained the situation to her. She listened and then shrugged.

"Well, we all can get 30 Safari Balls Each if we pay 1500 bucks." Yancy said. "That totals up to 90. I am sure we can catch enough Pokémon with 90 Safari Balls."

"That's not what is worrying me." Ash said, pulling out his Pokédex and opening up the Safari zone page, and showing it to her. "According to the Pokédex, there are a total of 21 different Pokémon, and that is a lot. Out of them all, Pokémon like Scyther, Chansey and Kangaskhan are not easy to catch, nor find. And speaking of which, neither is a Dratini if we want to catch one. Luckily we don't need Dratini for the Professor already has adequate data on it. Let's find Brock and get to work."

Quickly finishing his breakfast while Yancy ran off to get Brock, Ash got up, went to their room and got his bag. Pikachu, who was wrestling with Eevee on the bed, looked at him.

"Pikachu, Eevee, we have got to go." Ash told them, removing Eevee's Pokéball from his belt. The fox immediately started to whine, and Ash understood why. Eevee wanted affection, and didn't like going in there, but he couldn't handle 2 Pokémon outside of the Pokéballs when doing some heavy duty work. "I know Eevee, but we have to run a job for Professor Oak. I promise I'll play with you today evening."

She looked as if she was pouting, but agreed and let herself be called back into her Ball. Ash clipped it back on, and grabbed his jacket, putting it on. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder, and rubbed his cheeks against Ash as a sign of affection, and Ash smiled and rubbed his chin in return.

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered. Ash put his hat on, and walked out of the room, grabbing the keys and locking the door. Brock and Yancy were waiting for him by the entrance.

"Morning Ash." Ash tilted his head at Brocks greeting. Now appearing much more fresher, the breeder in training looked ready to go out in the field. "Yancy told me about the job Professor Oak gave you. You need any help?"

"Well, I don't think there are any Pokémon I want to add in my team." Ash said, stretching. "But it won't hurt to take a look around. We can get a total of 1 hour and 90 Safari Balls between us. I'll try my best to catch all I can in one go, but we'll see where it leads us. You can help if you want to, but don't hesitate to add a Pokémon to your team if you wish."

"Gladly. I was thinking about catching a Nidoran, any gender, and see if I can raise one and how good I can do it." Brock said. He was reading about how breeders usually tried to raise Pokémon from their start, so a baby Pokémon like Nidoran should be an easy one to raise, if he put dedication and hardwork behind it. And he would also get a cool Pokémon added to his team. "What do you think Yancy? Do you want any Pokémon?"

"Well, I don't have any in mind." Yancy said. She had Vulpix in her arms. "But I'd like to atleast see some Pokémon in there."

"Alright then, let's get going." Ashs aid, and started to walk towards where the Safari Zone was.

* * *

1500 Pokédollars later, they were allowed inside the Safari Zone. They had to deposit their Pokémon except one single one that they wanted to keep outside. Of course, the choice had been simple, Ash had Pikachu, Yancy had Vulpix and Brock had decided to let his Zubat some free reign, and let him fly around. And the first look of Safari Zone cleared all of Ash's thought about the day ahead.

"This is going to be another long day." Ash sighed, rubbing his head. Brock and Yancy chuckled nervously. The horrors of the previous 2 days still weren't out of their mind. Travelling was getting a little too much for them, and there was no way they were going to go in any mountain anytime soon. "Let's get started. The faster we complete, the faster we can get back."

"You still need to do some final training for your next gym don't you?" Yancy asked. They had all been given a small pouch where there were 30 Safari Balls each, and had been given a stern warning about not using any other Pokéballs or action would be taken. "But why? You're strong enough, Charizard, Pikachu and Snorlax should be enough to give you the victory."

"Trainers instinct." Ash said, and then ignored her as he had spied a certain Pokémon running around in the grass. It was a Nidoran Female, something not so commonly available in the wild. "Brock, do you want it or do I take it?"

"Go for it." Brock said. He understood that Ash needed to be given priority as he needed a lot of Pokémon that Professor Oak had told him to catch. "I have an idea. Ash, you can go in on your own, while I and Yancy stay near the entrance and search for what we need before we join you."

"I am okay with that." Ash said, looking at Yancy for confirmation. She nodded, and tagged along with Brock who walked off to another area while Ash slowly crept closer to the Nidoran Female who was looking at him curiously. He smiled and bent down, pulling out a box of food he had gotten, and put it in front of him. Pikachu also jumped down off his shoulder, and said a few things to the Nidoran. The Nidoran slowly came towards the food and took a small bite from it, and it seemed she liked it. Soon enough, another Nidoran poked his head out of the grass, this time it was a Male one, a purple one. Ash whipped out his Pokédex and scanned the two Pokémon.

 _Nidoran(Female) the Poison Pin Pokémon. The Female Nidoran secrets a Powerful poison from it's Barbs that can easily be fatal to both Pokémon and Human when touched or ingested. This Nidoran is on level 18._

 _Nidoran(Male), the poison Pin Pokémon. The Male Nidoran has muscles around it's ears which it can use to move them, so not even a single sound it gone unnoticed by this Pokémon, and it's enlarged horn gives it a very powerful version of the move Horn Attack. This Nidoran is on level 18._

It might be the fact that they were related, so it made him a little less guilty about catching them. As soon as they had eaten the food, he tossed 2 Safari Balls at them, and watched as both of them easily caught the Pokémon. Professor Oak had talked with the warden of the Safari Zone, and had set up a special system in which all the Pokémon Ash would catch would automatically be transported to Professor Oak, so as soon as Ash caught the Nidorans, the Safari Balls were transported to Professor Oak. 2 done, a lot more to go.

It didn't take him long to catch at least 10 Pokémon. Both Nidorina and Nidorino were easy enough, and so were Venonat and Venomoth. They were quite common around in the area. Dodou and Eggxecute were also similarly easy, just a couple of Safari Balls wasted behind them. The only thing interesting that had happened was when he was walking by a pond, and a Goldeen had literally jumped on him. It turned out, the Goldeen was escaping a Seaking that was following it for some unknown reason, but he had been able to get both the Pokémon. But then came the difficult part.

Pokémon like Scyther, Tauros and Kangaskhan were difficult to find. But the stranger part was, he hadn't even seen one single Slowpoke until now. Usually the easiest to find in water, Slowpokes were docile creatures, and very, very slow as their names suggested. And he knew he didn't need to actually catch a Slowpoke, but the professor would appreciate if he did catch one.

"Pikapi!" Ash looked up, shaking himself awake as he saw his fishing rod twitch for the Nth time. He looked at the Super rod that the rest houses in the area had, which was slowly twitching. He quickly grabbed the rod, and pulled the reel back, and with a jerk, pulled out whatever Pokémon he had caught. Unfortunately for him, it was a Magikarp, once again. Both Ash and Pikachu drooped down. It was nearing the end the 5th hour, and until now the only Pokémon he needed to catch were Kangaskhan, Slowpoke and Tauros. He had found all the others in relatively fast pace, especially Chansey, he had thought that one would give him troubles. But he wasn't complaining.

"Damn Ash, it took us a while to find you." Ash turned around to see Brock and Yancy coming towards him. Both of them looked tired. "You were quite far inside."

"How did you get in here so quick?" Yancy asked. He was sitting in front of a Lake, that ended near a large cliff, which marked the end of the Safari Zone. Via the normal road, which lead through every single Area in the Safari Zone, it would take him 2 hours of walking. "Did you not take the road?"

"Of course not. I went through the forests." Ash said, pointing towards the forest behind him. "That leads straight from this area to the front area, if you know your way of course. I just knew I had to head east, head north, and then west, and I'd reach where I needed to. I only need 3 more Pokémon, and I'll be done. Slowpoke, Scyther and Kangaskhan. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find the 3."

"I thought Slowpoke's are really common in the waters here." Brock said, looking at the filled Safari Balls Ash had. "Wow, you really made quite the progress."

"Heh, it wasn't easy, some of them were literally impossible to catch, especially Tauros. I couldn't find one for such a long time, and when I did find one, I had to waste 2 balls behind it." Ash said, attaching another bait to the hook and then throwing it again in the water. "But this is weird. Usually Slowpoke's do not go in the water for long amount of times and are found outside the water. I went through every single one of the water areas, and I found none."

"Well, you've got an idea, so you can do it." Brock said, sitting down beside Ash. "I caught a few Pokémon myself, a Nidoran male and a Chansey. I sent the Chansey back home to Forrest because he was really friendly and would help with the younger ones, while Nidoran is with me."

"I'm sure you'll raise it good." Ash sighed. Yancy leant near the water, and put her hand into it.

"The water is surprisingly warm near here." Yancy said, removing it back out and cleaning it. "Especially for the turn of the season, Kanto can get really cold in the winter."

"The forecast says the coldest days will be upon us in December. It is currently the end of September. So apparently we still have 2 months before the cold really kicks in. It snows down in the south, but the further inland you go, the further warmer it is. It snows in Pallet, I know that much." Ash said, rubbing his chin in thought. "And come to think of it, it does snow in Viridian sometimes too."

"Really? I have never seen snow." Yancy said, remembering her life, and shaking her head. "Nope, I've gone to Viridian city every other day, and I've never seen snow."

"Well, you might get to see it soon then." Brock said. Ash's fishingrod twitched again. "Somethings on the hook."

"Let's see what it is then." Ash said, pulling the Pokémon out, and it turned out to be just the Pokémon he wanted. "Finally!"

Not even wasting a second, he sent a Safari Ball at the Slowpoke, which sucked it in even before he could think and caught it. His Pokédex tinged at the successful capture, and finally, Ash sighed.

"Damn, took a while." Ash muttered, getting up. He looked at Pikachu, who had gotten back the ball for him from the lake and was shaking himself free of the water. "You ready to go?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, and jumped atop Ash's shoulder. Ash picked up the rest of the balls and put it inside of his bag, and looked at the mountain.

"So except Dratini, you have to catch all the Pokémon?" Brock asked, sighing. "And now, only 2 left."

"Yeah, Scyther and Kangaskhan. And I have only 45 minutes left." Ash said after looking at his Pokégear. "I think I need to start moving back towards the main area."

"I think so too." Brock nodded. Yancy was looking at something else. "Come on, we'll need to take your route."

"Uhh... guys..." Yancy pointed out to something. There, on the top of the cliff, there was a small truck that came to a stop and out of the truck came 3 perticular people. "You should take a look at this."

But before they could, 3 bombs were dropped in the water, creating a large splash of water. Ash covered his head, along with the 3 other kids to protect themselves from the water.

* **Insert Team Rocket Motto** *

"Oh dear dragonite, not the 3 of you again." Brock groaned at the sight of the 3 stooges of team rocket. "Our lives were much more peaceful without your interruptions!"

"Hey, we come back after such a long time and this is how you treat us!" Jessie screeched. "How dare you! Arbock, teach them a lesson!"

"This time, we will be taking that Pikachu! Go Weezing!" James sent out his own Pokémon. Ash shook his head, and nodded at Pikachu, who jumped in front, cheeks sparking.

"Zubat, let's go!" Brock got to work, sending his own Pokémon out to fight. The bat, who was hanging off the branch of a tree, immediately squeaked and got ready to fight. "Air cutter on Arbock!"

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Weezing." Ash commanded. Pikachu jumped in the air towards the Weezing, his tail shining in metallic energy, ready to strike down upon the Weezing. Weezing took the hit head on, causing Ash to raise his eyebrows. They had actually trained their Pokémon this time.

"Not this time! Weezing! Use Sludge!" James was going to battle. There was no way he was going to lose, not this time. He had trained hard for this. However, Pikachu was really strong. He immediately dodged the Sludge. Ash hid a grin. This was going to be fun. "Poison Gas!"

"Pikachu, dig under the ground." Ash knew what he was doing. Poison gas won't go under the ground simply because it was a very light gas and it would float around in the air. That would give him enough time to come up with a move. "Now, come out behind Weezing, and use mega punch!"

Mega Punch, another move he had taught Pikachu. It didn't hurt to have any moves that could do damage, especially like Mega Punch. And Mega Punch delivered as well. Pikachu appeared behind a startled Weezing, and punched it in the back of it's body with a glowing fist, sending him crashing to the ground, and leaving him prone to attacks.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Pikachu's cheeks started to glow once again, and then it let out a large arc of electricity down on Weezing, knocking it out instantly. "Good job."

"Arbock, bite it!" Jessie was having a much harder time. She hadn't trained her Ekans like James had, she had let him do the hard work for her. As such, she didn't have much moves at her disposal, simply because she didn't even know half of the moves this Pokémon knew. And Zubat was very fast, and dodged every single one of the moves she used on it. "Damn it! Aren't you supposed to eat birds like that?!"

"You yourself have absolutely no co-ordination with your Pokémon that you don't even know the potential it has." Brock admonished her. "Zubat, finish this, Air Cutter!"

And even though much smaller and weaker in comparison to the Arbock, Zubat did manage to win the battle quite easily. And there was a boon to it as well, because Zubat slowly started to glow and evolved into a much bigger bat like creature, with larger wings and a large mouth.

 _Golbat, the Bat Pokémon. This Pokémon has hollow fangs, making them really fragile, but they are only made to suck Blood. They move out in the night to hunt for prey and are nocturnal Pokémon. Upon evolution, this Golbat has learnt the move Venoshock and Poison Fang._

"Good job Golbat." Brock praised his newly evolved Pokémon. "You are improving really well."

Gobat made a strange noise, but Ash was sure he was happy. Then, his attention turned to the 2 grunts on the cliff.

"Useless, both of you!" Meowth scoffed, preparing his fangs. "I'll have to-."

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt."

"Vulpix Flamethrower."

A large torrent of Electricity and a barrage of flames headed straight towards the 3 grunts, creating a loud explosion, and sending them into the sky.

"Hey! I didn't even get a chance to fight!" Meowth's screech was heard all the way till they disappeared in the distance. This left the 3 of them alone.

"James has improved." Ash commented, picking up his bag, and checking his Pokégear. "Half an hour left. Come on, we better get back."

"But you still have to catch Scyther and Kangaskhan." Yancy pointed out, but still following Ash and Brock. "You'll have to waste another day, it seems."

"We'll see what Professor Oak says." Ash said, popping his neck. "Maybe we run into them while going back to the main gate?"

And it actually happened. They did run into both a Scyther and a Kangaskhan both while going back to the main gate, and Ash caught both of them. In short, within 6 hours, he had caught every single Pokémon available in the Safari Zone except for Dratini.

* * *

 _Good Job Ash."_ Professor Oak praised him when he called the man later on in the night. After returning from the Safari zone, Ash had rested for a while, and then had done some final training to prepare Squirtle for the battle against Koga. He was going to use him, because he felt as if Squirtle was ready. " _I didn't expect you to catch each and every single one of them, but this is really impressive._ "

"It took a while, but I really did it." Ash smiled. "But this is the last time I am going on such a spree, it really is frustrating to catch some Pokémon, especially the Slowpoke, I was sitting around for nearly an hour before it decided to appear."

" _That is unusual, Slowpoke's are very common around the area._ " Professor Oak said, rubbing his chin in thought. " _But regardless of all that, I am glad you managed to complete this, it will help me a lot in my research. As for the Behaviour of the Pokémon, well, all of them are liking in being in an area where they can roam around freely without being disturbed or having to share with other People. I will see if I can find a couple Moonstones to evolve the Nidorina and Nidorino if I can or if they want to. Other than that, all I can say is Thank you._ "

"It's alright Professor, it was a different experience for me as well. I did get a chance to explore the Safari Zone as a second though." Ash said. Both Eevee and Pikachu were in his lap, the former curiously staring at the computer screen and the latter scratching his ear. "As for the next thing on my list, well, the first thing tomorrow is going to be the Fuscia City gym."

" _Ah yes, Koga, the Poison type gym leader and Ninja Master._ " Professor Oak nodded. " _He is a tough trainer Ash, defeating him without the help of a Psychic type will be difficult, but I think you can handle it. You said you wanted to visit the Seafoam Islands next, don't you?_ "

"Well, it is a thought, yes." Ash nodded. "After the gym battle is over, we'll rest for a day before moving again. The next gym is in Saffron, and the next Musical that Yancy needs to attend is all the way back in Viridian city, a month later, and the way from Fuscia to Saffron isn't small."

" _No, it definitely is not._ " Professor Oak chuckled. " _The new cycling road might help though. But I have something else for you, I won't suggest going into the Seafoam Islands right now._ "

"I assume that it is much more dangerous that it seems?" Professor Oak nodded at his words seriously.

" _The Seafoam Islands are a group of very tough Islands, Ash. Even though Fuscia City is one of the ways you can go to Seafoam Islands from, you can also go there via the Cinnibar Island route, and this will be much more easier for you, considering the dangers that are involved in Seafoam Islands._ " Professor Oak said. " _The Pokémon out there sometimes reach level 40, and sightings of an Articuno have only increased there. I know you are strong, but you might want to train a bit more to stay overlevelled for the challenges there._ "

"Very well then Professor, you know better. We will not go to the Seafoam Islands right now." Ash nodded. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

" _Oh no, not at all. I just wanted to thank you for helping me out._ " The professor said. " _I will see you when you pass Pallet when going to Cinnabar, Ash, I eagerly await to see the data of your Pokédex and the G.S ball that you have. Until then._ "

Ash cut the phone off and sighed. He had talked to both, his mother and the Professor, and now had nothing much to do. Yancy was probably watching her TV shows and Brock would be doing something only he would know, leaving him basically alone for the next hour or so. He could train more if he wanted to, but he didn't wish to. He got up and turned towards hid room for the night, and came straight face to face with a woman.

She had long blonde hair, going till her hips, and a very, very beautiful face. She was wearing a dress gown, a very beautiful looking dressgown, and had a tiara on her head. People seemed to look at her in reverence and awe, bowing whenever she passed, and it took every single manners in him not to gape at her appearance. He knew who this was, of course he did. While he hadn't met her personally, his mother was a businesswoman, and she had drilled into him the things that mattered, and respecting the royalty was one of them. The woman, standing in front of him, was Queen Ilene of Rota, one of the wealthiest people in the planet, and one of the few remaining armed royalties in the world.

"Hello, Ash Ketchum." The woman smiled at him, tilting her head. "Or is it Red of Pallet Town?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum." Ash said stoically, controlling his nervousness at meeting such a person in the Pokémon centre. "How may I help you my lady?"

"Oh please, young man, I am not all that old." The queen laughed melodiously. "I am only 19 years old. I just wanted to meet the son of a good friend of mine and my mother before me."

"I didn't know my mother knew your mother." Ash replied, his eyes never leaving her face. "But it is not a surprise she didn't. She knew a lot of unexpected people."

"Good, you know manners." She smiled approvingly. "If you would be kind enough to follow me, I believe there is much we need to talk about."

* * *

The rooms in the Pokémon centre were made to give travelling trainers the rest and the comfort they needed after a long time of travelling. They were large, comfortable, and extremely, extremely good. However, the room of the royal had taken comfort to a completely new level.

The bed was extremely large, there was a ridiculously expensive looking coffee table in front of the balcony, the room had been decorated with paintings he had seen having tags of figures that went beyond 10 digits. And the lighting was so crazily bright, it hurt his eyes by just looking at it.

"Rather extravagant for a seemingly normal Pokémon centre room right?" The queen commented. There was also a maid that had greeted them instantly they had come in, and had leaded Harry into a seat in front of the royal. "I never asked for all this, but being a royal, we get used to it."

"Wealth and fame do not mean everything." Ash said. "Sometimes even the greatest of all the people deserve a chance at a normal life."

"Wise words for a 10 year old child." The queen smiled slightly at his words. "It is late in the night, so I will get straight to business. I have heard of you from a good friend and servant to the throne, Guardian Trainee Riley, I assume you have heard of him?"

"You know Riley?" Ash asked, his eyes brightening. The man stayed in touch with him, giving him calls every other day asking him of his progress in the book he had given him. There were many things Ash had asked him, and it was due to him he found out that indeed he had the gift of Aura. "Yes, I know him, he is a friend and a sort of mentor to me."

"So it is true." She whispered, leaning close to him. "You do have the gift of Aura."

"Yes." Ash nodded, wondering what did the want with him exactly. "I do."

"Can you show it to me?" The queen asked, looking at him straight in the eyes. "I need to see it for myself."

Ash nodded, and raised his hands in front of him, concentrating. Calling upon his Aura was a very difficult thing to do considering he only had, like, a week of practice, but he still could do it. According to Riley, it mean his Aura was very active if he was able to call it without years of training. He focused inside himself, searching for the light of his soul, and the light answered, flowing through his veins.

He opened his eyes, showing the change in colour. Even though they were red, his black coloured pupils had turned blue, making it an interesting mixture with Red eyes and Blue pupils. A small ball of Aura, unstable and wobbly, but still a small ball of Aura had formed in front of his hands, glowing blue in colour, slowly taking shape of a perfectly formed sphere. It was still small, but it still was there.

"That will be enough." Even though not capable of calling on Aura herself, or at least not capable of visualising it like that, she still knew Aura when she saw it. "I am affirmed in the conclusion I made when Riley first told me of you, Ash Ketchum, that you have the blood of a very powerful Aura Guardian in you."

"My ancestor might have been an Aura Guardian." Ash said, breaking his concentration and closing off his Aura link, resting his hands back to the ground. "But neither of my parents, nor theirs had been Aura Guardians."

"I know, what I meant to say is, your family, or at least you are very attuned with Aura." The Queen smiled at him. "What my purpose by meeting you was, to get to know you. From years, Aura Guardians have served the throne of Rota, the only ones in Kanto. If you wish to become an Aura Guardian, Rota will gladly help you do so under the condition you take a pledge to serve the throne by your life."

"I would gladly like to become an Aura Guardian of Rota my lady." Ash nodded, but then frowned. "But I do not wish to end my journey. I want to travel around the world before I decide to settle down."

"Of course, becoming an Aura Guardian does not mean to settle down." The queen said, she looked affronted by the idea. "Is that what people are saying of Aura Guardians these days? Has the knowledge of the hero's of the old been so tarnished that they think it is a mere 9 to 5 desk job?!"

"I am sorry to cause any mis-understanding my lady. I mean, I don't want to stop my travels around the world." Ash corrected himself. That calmed her down. "I wish to travel across all known regions of the world, that is my goal before I go onto the more serious things of life."

"Ah yes, Riley has told me that you are quite a good trainer." The Queen nodded, going back to her calm and smiling posture. "No, there will be no hindrance to your travelling my young friend. You will get to travel wherever you wish. You are right to assume that being an Aura Guardian is a paid job."

"And I am too young to think of all that." Ash said, shaking his head. While mature for his age, he didn't want to get into all that mess so soon. The queen only laughed.

"I know, I know, that is why I will not go into much detail." She smiled at him. "I would love to speak with you more, Ash. Do not worry, your name will be safe with me, no one will know that you are Red. I wish you all the best in your journey, I'll be keeping a track on you through Riley, I hope you reach far in the Kanto League."

"I will not leave your hope in me unfounded." Ash bowed his head, and got up. "If this is all, I will take my leave."

"Of course, farewell young Ash Ketchum." She smiled at him. Ash then left the room, making her sigh, though a smile was still on her face. 'Riley, you were right, this boy is something that was akin to the miracle that was Sir Aaron.'

* * *

Ash did tell Brock and Yancy about his meeting with the queen, none of them seemed to understand exactly what did she want with him, but they did undertand enough to keep it quiet and in the wraps. Yancy had been a little disappointed because she wasn't able to meet a real life Royal in person, especially a Queen, and Ash's descriptions only gave an image.

The next day, they had gotten bright and early and were heading towards the Fuscia City Gym, which actually was an old styled mansion, complete with the sliding doors and such. The entrance was complete with a large, old style gate in front of the mansion.

"Man, I wonder what kind of a person lives here." Brock wondered. He had heard very less about the gym leader of Fuscia City, Koga. He only knew that he was a ninja master, and a poison master, and that wasn't much help to Red, but he was ready. "Koga has never been much of a talkative person, always keeping to his own."

"Well, either way, I am going to win." Ash said, walking inside the house. The gates opened on their own, causing Ash to raise an eyebrow. He looked at Yancy and Brock, both of which weren't as affected as they should have been. "Automatic Door Openeres, I'd reckon."

"That, or some Pokémon." Yancy suggested her own idea. "Or maybe, just maybe, a person? You said Koga was a Ninja Master right? He should have apprentices that could be fast enough to open the door without being seen."

"How about we ask him inside?" Brock suggested, stepping inside the mansion. The entrance room was a big giant sitting room, with no furniture. The walls were made out of wood, and it was entirely barren, nothing at all kept for furniture. "Uh... Hello! Is someone in there?"

There was no reply. They were all looking around for something. That is when Ash 'felt' something.

Another thing since he had started reading about Aura and practicing to use it. His senses had gotten sharper, like, way sharper. He could hear the smallest of the noises, he could see the farthest of the things clearly, and he could even sometimes feel when something was amiss, like, he could always feel where his friends were, or where his Pokémon were whenever he let them out of their balls to have some fun.

And this time, he could feel whoever was hiding inside of that small patch he could see on the wall. It wasn't noticeable, but there was one thing wrong with the patch, it wasn't glossy like the other wood in the house was. So he continued to stare at the area, wondering why did it stick out so much. Was there someone in there?

"Ash?" Yancy asked him, looking at where he was. "What are you looking at?"

"I don't know, I just felt like someone was watching me from in there." Ash said, pointing towards the wall where the patch was. "It's as if someone is hiding in there."

There was a sound of something ruffling, and 3 ninja stars, as fast as a bullet from a gun flew at him. Pikachu was quick to react, and jumped up, it's tail shining metallic and smashing the 3 ninja stars quite easily. He landed on the ground, growling with his cheeks sparking.

"Who's there!" Ash exclaimed, taking a step back and fingering another Pokéball. Brock and Yancy both were shocked at the notion. Had the stars hit, there was a chance Ash would have been dead. "Come out!"

The patch that he found weird fell off, showing it to be a disguising cloth, behind which a girl near his age was hiding. She had purple hair, which was tied in such a way that her hair looked like a pineapple. She had a red scarf and a ninja suit, with 2 purple wrist bands.

"I am extremely sorry." She bowed, asking for forgiveness. "I was just frustrated that you managed to find me."

"You could have killed me." Ash said bitterly, motioning for Pikachu to calm down. "Throwing stars aren't exactly a toy."

"You're... Janine aren't you?" Brock asked, recognising her face. The girl looked at him curiously. "My name is Brock, I was the gym leader of Pewter city, you're Koga's daughter aren't you?"

"Yes." She answered, her face going back to a stoic stony expression. "I am Sensei's daughter. Might I ask why you are here?"

"Sensei...?" Yancy asked uncertainly. "Umm... does that mean teacher?"

"I am Red." Ash spoke, using his screen name. "I am here for a gym battle."

"I see, a challenger." Janine nodded. "I shall-."

However, between that, Ash's eyes snapped once against to a screen behind her, his eyes widening. She noticed his look, and turned around as well, all 4 of the kids looking at the screen. The screen fell down to reveal a person.

The man was in his mid years, his face hardened with battle. His eyes were cold and unemotional, and he was also dressed in traditional ninja attire that was shown in the books of old. He had armour on his body, guarding his ankles and much of his shin. He also had a red coloured cape on his back. He was looking straight at Ash.

"Few have the ability that you do." The man said, walking forward. Janine bowed, and moved out of the way to let the man speak to Ash directly. "I am Koga, ninja master and Fuscia City's gym leader. I heard that you wanted a challenge, young Aura user."

"You know he uses Aura?" Yancy asked, gasping. "B But how?"

"Not many can sense a ninja when in hiding." Janine chose to answer her. "Especially Ninja Masters like Sensei. Only Aura users and Aura Guardians have shown reputedly in the past to be able to sense anyone through any disguises. For someone as experienced as Sensei, it isn't difficult for him to figure out he was an Aura user."

"I am Red, I am here for a Gym battle." Ash spoke, his Pikachu jumping on top of his shoulder. The man nodded, and looked at Janine, giving her a silent message. She nodded, and turned towards Brock and Yancy.

"If everyone except the challenger would follow me." She asked both of them. The 2 nodded, wishing Ash their good luck, and Yancy giving him a short hug before following the girl. Ash looked behind her in concern.

"Do not worry of your friends, young Mr. Ketchum." His eyes went to Koga, wide. How had he? "I am an accomplice of Lance. I have heard about you, your achievements and how you helped him. I also heard from the warden of the Safari Zone how you fended off Team Rocket. However, that talk can wait after the battle. Your friends have been taken to the stands where they can see the battle from. Please follow me."

Koga lead him to the backside of the Gym, where there was a battle field, covered under the shadows of the trees that surrounded Koga's house. There was a first floor to the house, where in the balcony he could see Yancy and Brock sitting in a traditional Kotatsu, or a heated table, looking down towards the battlefield. Janine was standing on a box, holding 2 flags. Koga turned around and looked at him after he had lead him to the challengers box.

"This will be a 4 on 4 battle." Koga said. "And it will be a little different from other gym battles. Once you lose a Pokémon, it will be considered eliminated and won't be able to battle again, if you win, you will get one point. In the end, the one that has the most number of points will win the battle. A loss and tie will mean no points. You can choose to battle the normal way if you believe the challenge is to much for you, but personally speaking, I doubt you will."

"I am okay with the elimination format." Ash said. There was a slight twitch on Koga's lips as he gave the littlest of all the grins he had ever seen. He made a few handsigns and blurred away, appearing on his box. "That was fast."

"Ninja's have tricks up their sleeves, Red." Koga said, folding his arms. "Janine."

"Hai." The girl bowed and raised her flags. "This will be a 4 on 4 elimination battle between challenger Red of Pallet town and Gym Leader Koga of Fuscia city. If any of the trainers lose a Pokémon, it will be considered eliminated and won't be useable for the duration of the battle. A win will give the winning trainer 1 point, a loss and tie will mean no points. At the end of the battle, the trainer with the most point will win. Are both contestants ready?"

"Umm... Brock, is this normal?" Yancy asked, concerned over the format. She had read about elimination battles, but she hadn't ever thought they would be used in a Gym battle. "I mean, aren't gym battles supposed to be as normal as one can get in Battles?"

"No, it depends on the gym leader." Brock shook his head. "As long as none of the trainers don't cheat, a Gym leader can choose any format he wants to battle in given that the contestant agrees to it, and it looks like Ash did. Don't worry, I'm sure Ash will pull it off."

"Trainers, please send out your Pokémon!" Janine said once both of the trainers had nodded. Ash sent out his Squirtle as his first Pokémon, and Golbat as Koga's first. "The challenger gets the first move. Begin!"

"Squirtle, use Iron Defence!" Ash knew it was going to be difficult, or at least this battle was. Squirtle was on level 37, while Koga's Golbat according to Ash's Pokédex was on level 43, a large difference. Even though none of them held a particular advantage over the other, a level difference of 6 levels did give quite a boost to Golbat. And so, Ash had decided that he would need an increase in defence if he wanted last long enough, especially against this Golbat.

"Golbat, Air cutter." Koga commanded his Pokémon. Golbat immediately flapped it's wings, releasing a blue coloured 'S' shaped arcs of wind towards Squirtle, who had focused his energy on coating it's body in a glowing metallic energy. Squirtle easily took the attack without much damage. "Don't hold back, Wing Attack."

"Squirtle, when Golbat comes close, jump above and grab onto him with Bite!" Golbat had reared behind, and at an incredibly pace, rushed towards Squirtle, who did as Ash commanded, jumping above the golbat enough to dodge the Wing Attack, but not high enough to miss grabbing it with it's mouth, the glowing purple coloured energy of the move harming Golbat who shrieked and thrashed around. "Good! Now Rapid Spin!"

"Don't relent! Poison Fang!" Squirtle's grab onto Gobat never relented and he started to spin, spinning Golbat with him and straight towards the ground, and in the midst of spinning, Golbat's fangs which were oozing with poison bit onto Squirtle's soft undershed, making it cry out in pain, but he managed to endure it enough to smash Golbat to the ground and jump back. "I know you are fine Golbat, get up."

Golbat immediately agreed to his master's words, and flew back into the sky, waiting for the next move but there were signs of injury on him. Squirtle was also injured in many places, and had a purple coloured blotch on it's stomach, indicating the poisoning, and the winces of pain that he gave was another further sign.

'Not Good.' Ash though, biting his lip. Golbat now had a major advantage, and while Squirtle had done a good amount of damage with the Bite and Rapid spin combo, the damage he himself had taken with that single Poison fang was enough to counter it. "Squirtle, are you alright?"

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle nodded, gritting his teeth. He glared hard at Golbat, and began to glow. Ash's eyes widened at the notion. It grew a couple sizes, until it was 2 times as big, with pointy fairy like ears and a fluffy tail. It looked much more menacing now, instead of a childish Pokémon, and it was glaring hard at Golbat. "Wartortle!"

Ash removed his Pokédex and checked the Pokémon.

 _Wartortle, the turtle Pokémon. Wartortle has a furry, fluffy tail which is seen as a sign of longetivity. It is said that Wartortle can live for 10000 years. Upon evolving, this Pokémon has learnt the move Aqua Tail._

Ash grinned, and nodded proudfully at Wartortle.

"Good job Wartortle, I knew you were going to evolve soon!" Ash excitedly praised his Pokémon, but went back into battle mode. "We can celebrate later, use Water Pulse!"

Water Pulse was one of the moves except Iron Defence that he had taught his Squirtle. A good, long ranged water type move, Water Pulse had 2 great effects, one was it's damage, the other was its effect of confusing the opposing Pokémon. It was a move which started out as a small condensed sphere of water in front of Wartortle's mouth, which he launched at Golbat, who only flew back to avoid it. But it's effects were different. Once it collided with the ground, it exploded with a large wave of water that engulfed the Golbat. Ash grinned at the sight. But Koga was as calm as ever.

"Golbat, Venoshock." Surprisingly, a Venoshock came flying out of the water, too fast for Wartortle to avoid and hit directly, doing a _lot_ of damage considering Wartortle was still poisoned. Wortortle cried out in pain and collapsed onto the ground, barely conscious. "Finish it, Air Cutter!."

"Wartortle, withdraw!" It was the last defense that he could have had, but Wartortle was in no position to move. Golbat was much faster, and easily knocked it's opponent out. "Oh no, return Wartortle!"

"Wartortle is unable to battle." Janine raised a hand to Koga's side. "The winner of this round is Gym Leader Koga!"

There was a board which was below where she was standing, which had a board with both their names. Koga's points changed from 0 to 1. Ash frowned.

"You did good Wartortle. It was my mistake sending you out to battle." Ash shook his head, and clasped the Pokéball back on his belt, and fingered another one. Koga returned his Golbat, and was ready with his other Pokémon, a Weezing. He sent out his Snorlax.

"Round 2, Begin!" Now, Snorlax was a tank. There was no other way to describe him, Snorlax was a giant, incredibly strong Tank. He was also very keen to battle, and was not like the other of his species. If he was well fed and trained, he could be an incredibly, incredibly strong Pokémon. So it was no surprise when he managed to brave a Sludge without any problems.

"Snorlax, use Mega Punch." As he had described him, Snorlax was a tank. He had been riddled with moves upon moves and had the biggest move pool of all his Pokémon. He knew many, many moves, belonging to all types. From Normal, to Fire, to Dark. Snorlax jumped, as fast as he could, in the air, and bared down upon Weezing, who was too intimidated by the sight of the Snorlax to dodge, and was punched in the top of it's bigger head, hard. Weezing hit the ground, not moving for a while, but managed to wake up and glide away. "Good, now use Thunder Punch!"

"Weezing, use Protect!" Koga shouted. "Followed by Sludge Bomb!"

Weezing was protected from the incoming Thunder Punch by a veil of power it projected using it's eyes, and then it shot out a large, incredibly nasty looking ball of poison straight at Snorlax.

"Two can play the game, Snorlax ,Protect!" Snorlax raised his hands, and created a similar veil in front of him to protect himself from the incoming Sludge Bomb. The ball of sludge collided with the shield, and exploded, falling to the ground in many drops of extremely potent Poison, sizzling on the ground. "Now Flamethrower!"

All the time he was training with Snorlax, he had only done one thing, teach it moves upon moves. Level training came gradually, but he needed moves for Snorlax, and he had a literal ocean of moves he could choose from. Flamethrower was just one of them. Snorlax took a deep breath, and let out a barrage of flames at Weezing.

"Counter it with Thunder Bolt." Koga said. Weezing started to spark with electricity and let out a large torrent of lightning at the incoming barrage of flames, the 2 moves colliding in the middle with an explosion which rocked the entire Gym. "Now Gyro Ball!"

"Snorlax, stop it!" Out of the smoke created from the explosion following the not so friendly meeting of Flamethrower and Thunderbolt, Weezing came dashing towards Snorlax, who just raised his hands and stopped the spinning Weezing. Ash then realised this was as good of a chance he could get. "Finish it, Zen Headbutt!"

Koga's eyes widened at the move. He didn't know that Snorlax knew Zen Headbutt, and what a way had this boy used it. Unfortunately for him though, he was a ninja, and he would do anything to win a battle.

"Destiny Bond." Ash's eyes widened and he paniced, knowing it was too late as Snorlax's head was already descending down on Weezing, who's eyes glowed and a Shadowy distortion appeared beneath it and Snorlax. So he couldn't do anything when Snorlax hit Weezing head on with the Super effective Psychic type move, knocking the Weezing out, then crying out in pain and getting knocked out himself.

"Both the Pokémon cannot battle." Janine declared. "This battle is a tie, both Pokémon are eliminated."

Ash grit his teeth and recalled Snorlax, whispering a praise, apology and a promise to feed him extra the next time they had a meal. This wasn't going as he wanted it to.

"You are strong, young Red." Koga said, another Pokéball slipping into his hand from his sleeve. "But I have a lot of experience under me. You will have to do better than that."

Up in the bleachers, Yancy was wideyed. She turned to a incredibly serious looking Brock, who's eyes hadn't left the stage ever since the battle started.

"W What just happened?" She asked the more experienced trainer. "How did Snorlax get knocked out?!"

"Destiny Bond is perhaps the biggest 'hack' when it comes to Pokémon moves, and a trainers worst nightmare if used correctly." Brock said, his fists tightening. "That move basically is something like a Voodo doll, or as close as a Pokémon move can get to it. If the Pokémon that uses it is knocked out, the Pokémon that knocked it out will go down too. It basically ties the destiny of both the Pokémon. The one advantage a 'victim' of Destiny Bond has that it only lasts for one single turn, but stopping an already half finished move takes as much of trouble as stopping an incoming Extreme Speed. It is bound to hit, nothing can stop it."

"B but Ash is losing!" Yancy exclaimed, her worry increasing. "H He is so strong and trains so much! Surely he can't lose!"

"Even the mightiest take tumbles Yancy." Brock shook his head. "Ash had trained incredibly well, but there are some trainers who cannot be beaten so easily. Ash is down by 1 point while having lost 2 Pokémon. If he wants to win, he will have to win both of the next 2 rounds. But he understands that he cannot lose hope. Look at him."

And it was true. Even though incredibly frustrated and disappointed in himself, he still had the determination and was staring at the Gym leader emotionlessly, his red eyes not even deterring from the determined glow it had.

"Believe, Yancy. Ash will win this, I believe in him." Brock said. Yancy gulped and nodded, looking back down at the battle.

Ash looked at Pikachu, and nodded. Yes, it was time he changed things a bit. Pikachu grinned and walked out to battle, cheeks sparkling and glowing in excitement. Koga sent out his Arbock.

"Round 3, Pikachu Vs. Arbock, begin!" Janine declared, bringing both flags down.

"Pikachu, Light Screen." Pikachu's eyes glowed pink, a pink sheen surrounding himself as he got ready for the incoming battle. "Now Quick Attack!"

"Arbok, use Poison tail!" Arbok's tail glowed in poison enegy as it hissed and slammed it atop a rushing Pikachu. Pikachu, who had heard the shout, only took the Poison tail head on, jumping upwards to counter the force. "Grab it with Wrap!"

"Thunder wave!" He knew he had to be freed because this wasn't Brock's gym, he was going against a Ninja, there was no way tricks were going to work against the trick master. "Now Thunderbolt!"

Arbok once again hissed and shrieked in pain as the Thunder Bolt hit him, and hit him Hard. Koga frowned at the situation. His Pokémon was paralysed, and incredibly damaged by a move that he was sure he could have endured easily. So either the Pikachu was holding an item, or it was ridiculously strong, and he believed it to be the former rather than the latter.

"Arbok, Stock pile." Arbok was surrounded in a light glow, storing it's own Power. Ash narrowed his eyes.

"Pikachu, Quick Tail." Koga's eyes widened once again. He had forgotten about this, how? Pikachu once again disappeared, and re-appeared on top of Arbok, smashing his glowing metallic tail on top of Arbok, creating cracks on the field due to the force. Arbok cried in pain. "Now Mega Punch."

Once Pikachu had hit the serpentine Pokémon with the mixture of Iron tail and Quick Attack, he punched it in the 'chest' with a glowing fist, right in between the 2 'eyes' that were tattooed on it. Arbok went flying back, crashing onto the ground. Ash smiled slightly in satisfaction. This was going according to plan.

"Arbok, swallow." Arbok barely managed to slither back up, opening it's mouth and swallowing the glow that surrounded himself. The glow turned into a wispy energy and was dragged into Arbok's mouth, which raised his HP by quite a bit, enough for it to be able to fight more. "Now Earthquake."

This was it, a move that Ash had feared ever since the Arbok had come out. This was going to be the deciding factor, and Ash knew exactly what to do.

"Pikachu, jump atop Arbok!" Pikachu was much faster, and before Arbok's tail could strike the ground, Pikachu was on top of Arbok's head, avoiding the incoming ground type move with minimal damage, and he also managed to avoid tumbling off the Arbok. "Now, Thunder!"

"PiiiiikaaaaCHUUUUUU!" This time, the electricity that left Pikachu was much more potent and stronger, and it went straight into Arbok. Arbok couldn't even cry out in pain as it was knocked out to blissful unconsciousness from the unholy amount of electricity that coursed through it, his eyes replaced by spirals. Ash grinned as he at least won one single round.

"Arbok cannot battle. The winner of this round is Red." Janine had the green flag towards Ash. Pikachu cheered and ran back towards Ash, jumping in his arms. Ash smiled and rubbed his head while Koga returned his last Pokémon. "Please send out your final Pokémon."

"That was indeed a great battle." Koga nodded. "Your Pikachu is definitely the strongest of your team. But now, what will you do against the strongest of my team?"

"I have a counter." Ash smirked, fingering his own Pokéball. "Let's go Charizard."

"Muk, let's battle." The Pokémon that came out from Koga's Pokéball was a large blob of grime and sludge, with a large mouth and menacing looking eyes.

"Muuuuuukkkkkk!"

 _Muk, the sludge Pokémon. Muk is the evolution of Grimer, and it's body is made out of a very potent poison, caution while dealing with this Pokémon is recommended. This Muk is on level 48, and is a Male._

Charizard roared at the challenge, his wings flaring out and the blue flame on his tale growing in size. Koga raised his eyebrows.

"That is a strange Charizard." The man said, but didn't look intimidated at all. "Shall we begin?"

"Round 4, Begin!" Janine once again started the battle. This time, Ash's plan wasn't to go for a defensive attack. No, he was going to go all in.

"Charizard, Dragon Rage!" Charizard took a deep breath and let out a beam of purple coloured energy towards Muk.

"Minimize." Suddenly, Muk vanished, going so small that the beam harmlessly passed over it and towards Koga, who simply moved to the side to avoid the beam, his eyes never leaving the battle. "Now, Toxic!"

"Charizard, get in the Air!" Ash commanded to avoid being poisoned. Charzard let out a powerful beat of his wings, and took to the air, waiting for a chance to attack. "Now, Flamethrower!"

"Muk, use Sludge Wave!" Muk spat out a large wave of poison, which contacted with the hot blue flames creating a burning liquid which fell to the ground, quickly evaporating away. "Poison Gas!"

Muk let out a potent Gas filled with poison from it's mouth, straight towards Charizard, who only growled and beat it's wings, once again easily deflecting the Poison gas away.

"Charizard, time to get close. Shadow Claw!" With a burst of speed, Charizard rushed down towards Muk, his claws glowing in Shadowy energy ready to claw the opposing pile of gunk apart.

"Muk, Sludge Bomb!" Much to Koga's surprise however, Charizard didn't relent, and instead focused on taking the Sludge Bomb head on. And even more surprisingly, the Charizard had no effect, instead, the fire on it's tail just got bigger. "What?!"

"I have trained Charizard to endure the toughest of all hits." Ash said, grinning. "He has trained against both water and electric type moves, so naturally there is no way he is going to be knocked out by a simple Sludge Bomb, even from a Pokémon as powerful as your Muk."

Charizard slashed upon Muk with it's shadow claw, doing a considerable amount of damage.

"Amazing." Koga whispered, looking at the Charizard in unhidden curiosity and amazement. "The rumors were true after all. Either way, I will not back down, it goes against my code, my Ninja way. Muk, Gunk Shot!"

"Charizard, Dodge it!" Muk shot a powerful amount of Gunk and garbage at Charizard. Charizard moved out of the way, but Muk had another surprise for him.

"Once again!" This time, there was no dodging it, and it brought Charizard to the ground, gritting his teeth and growling in pain. "Now, Sludge Bomb!"

"I don't think so. Charizard, use Flamethrower! The strongest you can!" Charizard took a deep breath, and let out his flamethrower, which this time was much, much stronger than the last time. It completely engulfed the Sludge Bomb, and continued on towards Muk who couldn't dodge it, and took the blunt force of the Blaze empowered blue flames. "Finish this, Dragon Claw!"

Muk didn't have a chance this time. Once it shook itself off the effects the Flamethrower had on him, Charizard was already baring down, eyes glowing red and hand engulfed in draconic energy. It simply accepted defeat and took on the Dragon Claw, not even flinching as it was knocked out by the powerful move. Once Muk fell to the ground, defeated, Charizard let out a powerful roar, shooting flames into the sky.

"M Muk cannot battle." Janine was shocked that Red had managed to turn this around, and raised her flags towards Ash. "All 4 Pokémon have been used. This signifies the end of the battle. The final points are 2 for Red, 1 for Koga. The winner of the Fuscia gym battle is Red of Pallet town!"

Ash grinned and ran out towards Charizard, hugging him tight. Charizard growled and grinned as well, happy that he had grown to be such a strong trainer.

"Good Job Charizard." He grinned, looking down towards Pikachu. "You too Pikachu, all 4 of you did a great job. I knew we could win."

"And you did." Koga said, walking towards them. He had a smile on his face, a small, almost unseen smile. "This was an incredibly great battle, young Ash 'Red' Ketchum. You proved your worth, and your expertise that you have gained from your journey. I am honoured to admit defeat, and present you with the Soul Badge."

Koga had a small, pink coloured heart in his hand, the soul badge. Ash accepted it, and looked at the glow. This was his 5th badge, and probably the hardest earned badge he had. He put it in the badge case and looked up.

"Thank you, sir. It was a great battle." Ash bowed. Koga quickly bowed back, and escorted him out back to the main gallery. This time though, there was a lot of furniture, with paintings, Kotatsu's and even weapons lying around. "Huh?"

"We deliberately show this place to be barren." Koga explained. "We are ninja's, we believe in the fact that except those that share blood and bond, all others are enemies. It means only family and your loved one is someone you can truly trust. Other than that, no one can be trusted. Perhaps you will learn this after Mr. Riley completes your training."

"You are a member of the G-men then." Ash said. Koga nodded. "That is how you knew about Charizard."

"Yes, I was curious." He looked at Charizard's Pokéball on his belt. "But you have trained him well. I shall hold you no further, you are an extremely important person in the situation as of now, Ash. The ninja's of Fuscia will gladly help you whenever you need. All you need to do is call. If I am correct, you are going to Saffron city now, correct?"

Ash nodded, wondering what was wrong with that. Koga frowned.

"I should warn you, there have been a lot of things wrong with Saffron City." The man said. "Team Rocket grunts are sighted every day, and is having a lot of unknown sightings in their premises. But more than that, I should warn you about the Gym leader of Saffron City. Sabrina is an extremely powerful trainer, a Psychic type trainer and a Psychic herself. She has a different style of battling, where she will only use 1 Pokémon, but that Pokémon is a 56 level Alakazam, it is very well know."

Ash's eyes were wide. 56?! Heck even Pikachu was only on level 49! Just _1_ level above Koga's Muk, and he had to face a 56 level Pokémon?!

"Yes, 56. None of the gym leaders in Kanto have a Pokémon that can go against her Alakazam, even the gym leader of Cinnabar City has a weaker Pokémon in comparison to Sabrina. So you better train hard for her battle." Koga said. He returned back to his stoic persona when Janine entered the room with Yancy and Brock. "Have a good Journey, Red. I wish you all the very best in the leagues. Godsend."

* * *

"So, this was badge number 5." Brock said. They were all in their room in the Pokémon centre, sitting on their beds, or at least Brock was. Ash was sitting beside Yancy on her bed. "Now, Saffron city."

"Yeah, I have heard really amazing things about Sabrina." Ash said, looking up from his Pokégear. "But, how do we go there? The Cycling road is only on till a town in the middle, it's name is Mauve town. It's a small temple town, worshipping the Pokémon Mew, do you think we should take that route?"

"Well, I don't want to see any of Route 12, 13, the Amethyst Mountains or anything like that anytime soon." Brock said. Yancy immediately agreed. "And besides, it'll be a small trip. Where to go from Mauve town?"

"From Mauve town, there is a road through the forest into Celadon city. All the entrances of Saffron are now open, so there is no problem in getting in. It will be a 3 day trip from here to Mauve town, even through the cycling road, don't worry, there are rest houses this time, and then a further 4 day trip on walking from Mauve town to Celadon city, and then a short 12 hour trip from Celadon to Saffron. So we should be there by... next Wednesday." Ash said. "If we go via the normal plan."

"And then, all the way back to Viridian." Yancy moaned. Saffron was a _long_ way from viridian. "Man, I don't want to go through Mt. Moon again!"

"Nah, we have busses going through the forests, don't worry about that." Brock shook his head. "Alright, enough of all this, let's get some sleep. We'll leave after breakfast and getting supplies tomorrow."

"Alright." The 2 kids said, Ash getting up and going to his bed. Both Pikachu and Eevee were down with the other Pokémon, resting under Nurse Joy's care, getting ready for the trip ahead. Yup, it was going to be a big trip again alright.

Outside the Pokémon centre, the same green eyes were seen looking straight inside the window, and Ash. The owner giggled and vanished in a flash of pink. Yup, stranger and fun things were ahead alright.

 _ **The End.**_

 **Author's notes- Phew, here we go, Chapter 15, the long awaited Fuscia Gym battle. Man, I can't believe I am already out till the 5** **th** **badge of the first region. Sure, it took a while, but I made it. Now all that is left is Sabrina, Blaine and Giovanni before we reach the league, and Kanto Arc will be over! Man, time really flies.**

 **Anyways, before I go on ahead, read this. All the information I get about Pokémon is from Bulbapedia, the fan made wiki about Pokémon if you don't know what that is. And yes, in Bulbapedia it is written that Wartortle can live for 10000 years! Check it out! Under the Pokédex entires of Genration 5 if you don't believe me! All the moves used, all the levels, are all from there, sure, there might be many changes in levels and moves, but the initial information of the character and Pokémon is all from there, so don't bitch at me for giving wrong information.**

 **Secondly, about Sabrina. Now, Sabrina, to me, is the most difficult trainer I ever encountered in the games except for maybe Cynthia in DPPT, and good old Red from HGSS. So that is why, she is going to be a little bit overpowered here. Look out for the battle next to next episode, or 2 chapters away. For now, my focus is going to be on the next chapter.**

 **If you don't know, there is no city such as Mauve city in Pokémon. It is a city made for the stage of the first ever movie chapter I am going to write. That's right, the next chapter will be a special chapter. A part of the story, but a special chapter none the less. And if you haven't guessed whom it is going to involve, well, you surely can't read in between the lines. Just wait, when it is out, I promise you'll enjoy it. PM me for questions. Also, Queen Ilene, and Riley and Koga, yeah, things aren't going to be the same for Ash, or 'Red', for sure. Things will come in the clear soon enough.**

 **About 'Red', I will clear it once again, Ash Ketchum is his name, Red is how he is known as. So both Ash Ketchum and Red are the same people, do not confuse them for different people.**

 **Until then, this is Omnipotent97 signing off, and saying thank you for the support you've shown me.**


	16. A Catty Adventure

**DISCLAIMER- I don't own Pokémon. It is owned by Game Freak/Satoshi Tajiri/Nintendo/whoever owns a stake in the Pokémon company.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

' _Telepathy'_

 _Pokédex_

Chapter 16- A Catty Adventure.

"How long is Mauve town from here again?" They had begain their journey to the end of the cycling road, Mauve town, that morning. It was afternoon right now, they had stopped at one of the many resting places placed all over the Cycling road that lead from Fuscia to it's itended destination, Celadon city. However, the road from Mauve town was still not completed so the cycling road ended at Mauve town. It was a long trip to Mauve town though, fast, but long. "From Fuscia, it was supposed to be, like, 120 miles right?"

"Somewhere around the range of 120 to 130 miles." Ash said, taking a big gulp off his canteen. It was mixed with a powder that turned the water into an Energy drink, something which Brock had given them. Saying that it would provide them with much need energy and keep them hydrated without making them feel nauseas. And it really worked, his was lime flavour, and Yancy's was orange, and it really, really kept them hydrated. "And we've made... about 40 miles. I should be impressed by our stamina. 40 miles biking in 4 hours, that's 10 miles every hour, I'm surprised we're not dead tired by now."

"Well, biking with a geared bike certainly does help. Less strain but faster speed." Brock said. "Let's just hope we can make it atleast halfway before our legs decide to give up."

Ash and Yancy agreed, sighing deeply as they rested on the common seats. What they didn't know was what was going on just a few miles away from them in the wild.

The forests in Kanto rarely saw any disturbances mainly because of the peacefulness of the people of Kanto. Because of it being the region that took pride in their past and believed in their future, the people were much peaceful and civilised with one another. So it was obvious that the more friendlier humans would make an impact on Pokémon as well, and it wasn't uncommon for Pokémon to find humans in the forests travelling or looking for resources and it also wasn't uncommon when some of the more friendlier Pokémon decided to give a help to said humans.

But not all humans were the same as it was shown by the madly rushing pink blur which was being followed by a red coloured blur, following behind was a jeep. The pink coloured blur dodged a silvery arc of energy shot y the red blur, and in return, without looking back fired a pink bolt. The Red coloured bolt, for a split second, looked as if it was surrounded by a metallic sheen, after which it was able to take on the pink bolt without question.

"Scizor, Razor Wind!" The red coloured blur was suddenly engulfed by a lot of winds, and he launched a sharp arc of wind towards the pink figure. The figure simply flew up to dodge it, and the arc slashed through 4 trees before stopping. The Figure turned around, and cried out, launching a great, giant, blast of fire towards them. "Protect!"

A barrier rose up between the Pokémon named Scizor and the man behind him on the jeep. The flames collided with the barrier, which held up, surprisingly, and after the flames died down, the pink figure was nowhere to be seen.

The man in the jeep, who had a scarf over his face, growled in frustration.

"Damn it, it used teleport to get out of here." The man said, removing a Pokéball and recalling scizor. "Next time, I will catch it for sure!"

* * *

The pink figure, now revealed to be a cat like Pokemon, completely pink with no fur on, and large green eyes, appeared some miles away in front of a small shrine. It floated up to the base, and passed out, gasping for breath. It had many scars on itself, and was incredibly tired.

Some of the Pokémon, namely a large Pidgeot who was sitting on a branch noticed the Pokémon, and dived down, stopping beside it and pecking around, giving soft cries.

"Pid... Geot!" The Pokémon said, concern laid in his eyes. The pink Pokémon opened it's eyes and said something incoherrible. The Pidgeot nodded, and gave a loud cry, taking to the skies. His friend needed help, and he would get help.

Flying around for a while, he tried finding someone who could help, someone who had a heart big enough to help. For miles it flew, finding nothing but other Pokémon that had no idea what to do. Finally, his eyes were drawn to the cycling bridge, especially where one particular Red eyed boy was cycling. Pidgeot's eyes widened when he sensed the Boy, and with renewed vigour, she sweeped down.

Ash was liking the day so far. There hadn't been any incidents, there was no rain, and they were very close to Mauve city already. Sure, it was a bit tiring to cycle with small stops, and really, really painful for their legs, he was enjoying it. Pikachu was on the basket, enjoying the wind on his face, and Eevee was inside his jacket, curiously looking around at the zooming environment. They were all silently cycling towards their destination so there was no way in actual hell that he expected 2 talons to grab him by the shoulder.

"Ash!" Yancy shouted behind him. Ash felt as if he was being picked up, and soon enough he had to let go of the bike. Pikachu had jumped out and was sparking, but Brock stopped Pikachu.

"Stop it Pikachu!" Brock shouted, coming to a stop. "If you hit them, Ash and Eevee both will be hurt!"

"Pikpi!" Pikachu shouted, getting ready to jump, but the Pidgeot was too fast and was already flying into the Horizon.

"Oh god." Yancy said in horror, her hands on her mouth. "H he's going to be eaten! He's going to be Pidgey food!"

"The Pidgey family do not eat Humans." Brock said, picking up Pikachu. He scouted ahead where he could see a resting place. "Come on, we will have to atleast head there, then we will wait. I'm sure Charizard will help Ash if needed."

Yancy could only nod. Pikachu jumped in her basket beside Vulpix, and both of them tried to comfort the pink haired girl, while Brock picked up Ash's cycle and rided with a hand on it.

With Ash, he was doing his best to ignore the urge to struggle because he knew that it would be bad for him. He was about to call out for Charizard when he heard Eevee yip. He looked down and saw her look, straight at Pidgeot and yip something to him. Ash looked up, and the Pidgeot's face and he frowned. There was a hint of desperation in his face, and Ash knew this was something much, much different then what he was thinking.

Pidgeot's weren't known to attack humans first without humans attacked. They were perhaps one of the most friendliest of the Pokémon and didn't snap back. So Ash knew that this Pidgeot hadn't 'kidnapped' him for someone, but there was something wrong. How right he was.

10 minutes later, Pidgeot dropped him on the ground in front of a shrine, and flew up, cawing for him to get up. Ash noticed there were some Pokémon gathered around a corner, where a small bed of leaves was made. All of them were common, woodland Pokémon, Ratata, Pidgey, a couple of Nidoran's and a Growlithe. Ash frowned when he saw something pink and walked closer, and came a dead stop.

The Pokémon sleeping on the bed made out of leaves was pink, had a long tail, longer than it's body. It had a cat like body, and it was shuddering and wheezing. There were a lot of scars on it's body. Ash gulped as he realised what Pokémon it was, and pulled out his Pokédex.

 _Mew, the new species Pokémon. This Pokémon is said to be the ancestor of all the Pokémon as it can learn all moves. This Mew is on level 50 and is a female._

'A _female_?!' Ash thought in his head. 'But how? All Legendaries were said to be genderless?! Does that mean that there are 2 of every legendary? And why is it so hurt?'

Then it ticked, why every Pokémon was looking at him in worry and hope, and why the Pidgeot had 'kidnapped' him. They wanted him to do something, and every single urge of his trainer experience jumped up as he quickly made his way towards the leafy bed and bent down. Slowly, he brought a hand closer to Mew and touched her. Mew opened her eyes, bright green, and looked at him, judging him, and giving a soft 'Mew' and snuggling to his arm. Ash smiled at the trust, and picked the Mew up.

"Hello Mew. I am Ash." Ash said softly. He removed a revive and a Hyper Potion, first crushing the revive and using a spoon to feed it to Mew. Mew ate it weakly, and a little strength seemed to return in her, but she was still in pain and snuggled closer to the warmth that Ash seemed to provide. Then, Ash sprayed the Hyper Potion on Mew, watching as the scars frothed. Mew shuddered in pain and cried out, but Ash had a good grip on her, and held her until the Hyper Potion had taken effect. But something was wrong.

'Why isn't she getting up? A revive and a Hyper Potion should have her at full health!' Ash thought. He was no doctor, and only knew what every trainer knew. He needed Brock. He put Mew down on the bed, who immediately whined as the source of warmth seemed to leave her, but stopped when Eevee jumped out of Ash's jacket and curled up around Mew. Many of the Pokémon joined, helping give Mew warmth. Ash went a few steps back, and near the tree where the Pidgeot was.

"Pidgeot." Ash said to the Pokémon, who jumped out of the tree and landed in front of him. "I have healed Mew's scars, but she is not waking up. My friend, the squinty eyed tanned one, is a doctor and knows more about this. They will also be worried about me, is it possible to get both of them and Pikachu here?"

"Pidgeoooootttt!" Pidgeot cried, and took to the air. Ash turned around, and walked back to Mew, his hands on it's forehead as he looked at her in concentration, trying to figure out if something was wrong with her.

Back with Brock, Yancy and Pikachu, they were sitting on the benches, waiting when Pikachu's ears suddenly twitched. It looked up and saw Pidgeot flying towards them at top speed. Brock and Yancy also saw it, and were about to remove Pokéballs, when it suddenly stopped in front of them, sounding desperate, and cawing. Pikachu spoke back, his sparking stopping, but an angry look still on his face, which suddenly went away. He then turned to Brock and Yancy, and pointed on the Pidgeot's back.

"He wants us to get on him?" Brock was able to translate Pikachu's actions. Pikachu and Pidgeot both nodded, and Pikachu did some more actions. "Ash is calling for us?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, jumping on Pidgeot's back. Brock looked at a slightly hesistant, but determined Yancy, and jumped on Pidgeot's back as well. Brock sighed and did the same, their cycles forgotten. 10 minutes later, they landed near the shrine.

"Wow." Yancy said, looking around. The shrine was within a clearing, a small wooden hut with a lot of greenery around. "Why he bring us here?"

"Ash?" Brock though, was much interested in Ash's whereabouts and his state. He sighed in relief at seeing Ash fine, but his face scrunched up in concern as he saw the cuddle pile in front of him with something pink in the middle. The only time Pokémon did this was either at night, or when a Pokémon was badly injured. "Is something wrong?"

"Thank god you made it in time." Ash said, getting up. The Pokémon slowly started to move away so Brock could see what was wrong, and he gaped at the Mew sleeping there, still wheezing. "Mew's badly injured. I gave her a Revive and a Hyper Potion, but except for the scars going away and her gaining little energy, she hasn't improved."

"That isn't a good sign." Brock said, all sorts of shock and awe at seeing the Pokémon going away as he bent down, and touched Mew. He looked her over, trying to see if anything was affecting her from outside and found nothing. "I don't exactly know if she has a fever or something considering I don't know what is the natural temperature for a Mew but it is definitely higher than what the normal temperature limit for any Pokémon is considered. There are no scars because of the Hyper Potion you gave her, and if there was any bacteria, the Revive would have already killed them. I cannot say what is wrong with her, when did you find her?"

"I'd say exactly half an hour ago." Ash said. "And the Pokémon were around her till then and had moved her here, so I'd say she was injured at least 2 to 3 hours ago. This is not a physical injury that is causing this."

"No, there are no signs." Brock shook his head. Yancy, who had done taking a look around, walked up and her eyes widened at seeing the Pokémon. Pikachu was sniffing at Mew, trying to find out if something was wrong with her scent, but he shook his head and jumped up on Ash's shoulder and said something. Ash reached up and rubbed Pikachu's head. "We need a much more detailed examination. The Pokémon centre would be a good place to take her to."

"Mauve town doesn't have a Pokémon centre." Yancy said, taking her eyes off the Pokémon. "Right? They said it was going for renovation and won't be built till the next month."

"Yes." Brock nodded. "The closest one will be back in Fuscia, but that will take us a while."

"No, we need to get her to civilisation." Ash said, looking towards the sun, which was slowly setting. "But tonight we will have to stay here, the sun's already setting and I'm sure Mauve town is atleast a couple hours by foot."

"Yeah, Mew needs rest." Brock nodded, setting down his bag. "Let's gather firewood and water, I'll set up the tents."

"I'll see if there are any berries that can help." Yancy said, releasing her Pokémon, and asking Meowth and Cleafable to come with her. Vulpix, following Eevee's example, had wrapped herself around Mew to provide her warmth. Ash and Pikachu were trying to get some firewood, chopping up branches and trees using Pikachu's Iron Tail and a foldable Knife that Ash had. Finally, they got a lot of branches, Ash carrying the bigger ones and Pikachu with the smaller ones. Brock had already set up the foldable table, and a fire-pit, waiting for Ash to come in. Ash set down the firewood in the fire-pit, and looked at Vulpix.

"Vulpix, can you start a fire?" Ash asked, pointing towards where the wood was. Vulpix opened a single eye, and looked at the pit. One of her tails twirled and a small ball off fire shot towards the pit, instantly lighting the wood up. Brock did the rest, making sure the fire went going for a time. Ash then walked back, and removed his Pokéballs. He called out for Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard, Eevee and Pikachu were already out. Snorlax was still in his ball, but first he had to prepare Snorlax's dinner. Going towards his Bag, he removed the special treat for Snorlax, made using the Alpha Berry, that would fill it up in just one single bowl, a large sized bowl and placed it in front of a large empty space. He then filled up each of his Pokémon's bowls with their food, and added the special, sprinkled berry mixture made by brock so they all could get the correct Nutrients. Finally, he called out for Snorlax, who immediately dug into the food.

"You good Snorlax?" He asked the giant, who didn't even acknowledge Ash. He was too busy eating the food. "Right, got it."

Ash knew better than to harass Snorlax while he was eating, but that was what his newest team addition was. He then walked over to his other Pokémon, who were still eating, and then looked over at Yancy who had just arrived with some Berries and pails of water. After depositing them, her Pokémon also went ahead to finish their food, and so did Brock's. Meanwhile, Ash soaked a towel in some water and drained it, heading towards Mew and putting it on her forehead. Mew cooed, and opened her eyes. Green eyes bright looking at Red.

"Hey Mew." Ash greeted, smiling slightly. "I'm Ash. And this is my partner Pikachu."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped up on Ash's shoulder so he could look at Mew as well. Mew cooed once, as if saying something, and mewled. Ash frowned.

"You were hunted?" Ash asked, concern rising in his voice. "By who? And why?"

"M mew?" The Pokémon looked shocked as he stared at Ash.

"Yes, I can understand you." Ash nodded. "I can understand all Pokémon to an extent, but my own Pokémon, especially Pikachu, I can understand as if they are humans."

"Mew~" Mew's tail moves, excitedly thumping on the ground as her face brightened, well, as much as it could when she was so week. "Mew!"

"Yeah, I'll talk with you once you are better." Ash said, then frowned again. "If I know what is wrong with, though, will help us head you."

"Mew." Mew looked as dejected as Ash was. Pikachu jumped down, and closer to Mew.

"Pikapi, Pikachu!" Pikachu said, trying to cheer the Pokémon up. Mew smiled slightly, and closed her eyes again. Ash sighed, and got up. "Pikapi?"

"I know." Ash nodded, and turned back around, his face going as emotionless as it could. "There's something going on in this forest, a darkness, that is moving against us. They want Mew and if I have any say in it, they aren't even coming 3 meters near her."

"Pika!" Pikachu seemed to agree as he also nodded, cheeks sparkling once. "Pikachu."

"Come on, I need to eat now." Ash said, turning around going back towards the foldable table that had been set up. Yancy had already started to work on tents, and she had improved now, 2 out of the 3 tents already being up. Brock's was an off cream colour, hers was a soft pink colour and his a navy blue coloured Tent. Usually, they kept their Pokémon outside, especially because of Charizard's and Ivysaur's light sleeping tendencies. They both would open their eyes and literally follow anyone who wanted to do their business, watching as the guardians. Once there was a stray Fearrow who wanted to get Eevee. The Fearrow was shot with a flamethrower and grabbed with a Vine Whip and slammed to the ground even before it could begin it's dive. When Ash came out to investigate, he sweatdropped as he found a passed out Fearrow, and 2 innocent looking starters. That look on Charizard's face really didn't suit it at all. From then on, he had Pikachu and Eevee sleeping inside of his tent, and Squirtle usually ended up sleeping with him as well.

Brock had prepared a nice stew for them, a nice, warm looking stew, a gravy of some tomatoes, with some berries in for sweetness and chops of vegetables inside. He liked Brock's cooking, it was like what his mother made for him. Along with it was some bread that they had taken from Fuscia city, for fun and a fresh salad made out of berries with some cream on top as desert. Ash smiled and sat down beside Yancy, while Brock served them both the stew. Ash passed on the bread, taking 3 slices for himself, and a healthy serving of the desert.

"You know, I would have never thought in my life that I would ever meet Mew." Brock said, looking at the now sleeping Legendary inside Ash's tent. They had moved her so she could get even more warmth, and she had fallen asleep as soon as she had hit the comfy bed made out of some blankets and Ash's jacket. Eevee and Pikachu had joined her. "Infact, I would have never thought in my life that I would meet any Legendary. Though what astounds me more is that a Legendary has a gender."

"My thoughts exactly." Ash nodded, dipping his bread in the stew and taking a big bite. "All my life I've read that Legendaries have no genders and are born through sheer powers of elements and the will of life."

"Why does it matter that a Legendary has a gender?" Yancy asked. "I mean, it's a Pokémon, and all Pokémon have genders, right?"

"Not quite. Pokémon, like Magnemite and Ditto have no genders." Brock said, leaning on his hand and eating a spoon of stew. "Legendaries were said not to have any gender because they are so, _so_ rare to see that people believe there are only 1 of them. The fact that a Legendary as rare as Mew has a gender means that there has to be 2 of them or otherwise even Mew would be Genderless. I don't exactly know the details, but we'll have to ask Professor Oak. I'm sure he would be excited at the fact that someone got the Data of a Mew."

Oh they had absolutely, absolutely no idea at all.

In Pallet town, a few hours ago at 1700, Professor Oak was in the back garden, recording how Nidorans and Nidorina's talked with each other. It seemed that some races, especially like the 'Nido' species, seemed to care about their young as much as a Kangaskhan did, and actively talked with their younglings. And he was noting down what Pokémon did so.

"Hmm..." The Professor hummed, taking a few notes as both the Nidoran's seemed to wrestles, and the Nidorina's made sounds of chuckling. "Maybe this is something more different than I thought it would be. They seem to mix up with each other as if they are parents and children, yet they have no blood relations, all 4 of them. Surprising."

The Professor stood up, and headed back towards his lab. It was time to collaborate all the data he had been recording since the past few hours and see if there was any connection in the patterns he had of his old data. Getting inside the lab, he barely noticed that Ash had recorded a new Pokémon, and seemed surprised.

'That boy has probably seen every Pokémon till now, perhaps 2 times as much as Gary has.' Professor Oak mused, clicking on the screen. He noticed his Coffee still sitting there, and took a sip, and made a face. 'Cold Espresso, yuck.'

He however, forgot everything because his face and eyes were fixated on the screen where there was a message playing out with a picture on it.

 _Pokémon recorded by Ash Ketchum:_

 _Mew.  
Gender-Female  
Level-50_

Below it, there was a picture of the Mew, apparently sleeping and injured, along with more data that the sensors had captured. All in all, this was probably the most amount of Data someone had ever gotten of a legendary.

"Impossible." The man muttered, quickly minimising the screen and brining up the phone, and dialling Ash's number. "Just impossible."

He was further surprised and a bit concern when he dialled the phone, and the message on the screen came up.

 _Ash Ketchum's Pokégear is out of service area. Last seen location, Fuscia City-Celadon City Cycling Road, 27 miles before the end of the current build at Mauve Town._

The Professor leaned back, still looking at the message and bringing up Mew's recording, staring at the photo captured. Mew looked in a very bad condition, and he didn't know what had happened to Mew.

'Ash isn't someone who is harmful to Pokémon. No, something must have happened.' The Professor thought, but then it dawned upon him. Someone had recorded a Mew. Someone had recorded the probably ancestor of all the Pokémon! Someone had given him more data than _anyone_ could ever give about Mew, and the only thing that came out of him was a choked sob as the realty crashed down. 'I don't, I don't know what to say. Ash, you really, _**really**_ are the greatest young man I have ever known.'

Quickly getting his emotions under control, he saved the Data in a file, and backed it up in a Pendrive. Getting up, he rushed with the cold Espresso mug in his kitchen, came out with a new, Hot, smoking mug and a book and a pen so he could sit down and write things down.

The Professor wouldn't get up from the seat until the next morning his Granddaughter came in and scolded him for having another all night stay.

* * *

The next day, they had decided they really needed to get to Mauve Town or things might get messy. Mew's condition hadn't improved that much, and she still was very tired. According to the map because the Pokégear didn't have any range, they were somewhere around 27 miles away from Mauve town, and they needed to hear north to get to the road.

But the road wasn't easy. First of all, they were in a forest, and this forest was much worse than the Viridian Forest. There was no straight road, the roots had grown over anywhere and the original Route that headed to Mauve Town from Fuscia City had nothing remaining. Many boards that shouldn't be there had been found 20 miles way from where they should have been, the road was littered with all sorts of dirt and grime, and worse of all, the milestones were all gone as well. IN short, they had to navigate the old fashioned way, meaning, they had to get their butts to Mauve Town by simply heading the way where the thought Mauve Town would be.

The Journey should have been short, and sweet, with Ash carrying Mew in his arms, and Pikachu riding on Brock's shoulder for the time being and Yancy being the one who was carrying Eevee. Of course, they had thought that using Charizard would be a good idea as well, but Brock pointed out that, first, Charizard had only carried Ash and Pikachu on his back, second, Charizard was still growing and straining his wings at this stage would only be harmful to him and finally, Mew didn't need to feel any more jerks and lurches while flying, so they had chosen to walk but that didn't mean they hadn't scouted. Brock had used his Golbat's help to help them point out the direction properly, and they were walking towards where Golbat had told them to. Of course, things weren't always that easy.

Just as they stepped out of the forest and towards the edge of the Route where the current build of the Cycling road ended, they heard the sound of something, namely swords travelling through the air, headed towards them, or Ash in particular. Pikachu picked up the sounds, and had jumped up, using Iron Tail to defend Ash. It turned out to be the attack Razor Wind, which a Pokémon that looked like Scyther had thrown at him.

"Scizor!" The Pokémon growled, it's 'pincers' glowing once again. Pikachu's cheeks flashed with electricity as he growled at Scizor.

"You there, boy." A man walked out from behind the Scizor. He was wearing a mask and a strange outfit, and Ash recognised the man as the Masked Marauder, the one that had apparently tried to do an illegal deal in Amethyst town. "You have something that belongs to me."

"I didn't know you had caught Mew." Ash said, removing another Pokéball, and calling out Charizard, who growled menacingly, the tail on his flame only increasing. "And if I have any say in it, there is no way scum like you can have her."

"I will get it one way or the other. Scizor, use Razor Wind!" The Marauder sneered.

"Charizard, Flamethrower." Ash on the other hand, was calm. He knew that he had the advantage, but speaking from experience, and knowledge, the Pokémon that belonged to Team Rocket were absolutely nothing, only Giovanni seemed to have strong Pokémon. Blue fire crashed against the incoming waves of wind, completely engulfing them and heading straight towards the Scizor.

"Scizor, Dodge it with Agility, then Metal Claw!" The Scizor zoomed out of the way, the flames colliding against the ground, causing a black mark to be left behind. The Scizor then appeared in front of Charizard, it's pincer glowing, and about to come down on him.

"Charizard, stop it." Charizard raising his hand, and stopped the incoming pincer quite easily, and growled. "Now Fire Punch!"

When one of his Pokémon knew how to use an elemental Punch attack, it was easy enough for it to teach the basics behind to every single one of his Pokémon. That said, it wasn't difficult for him to teach said move to Charizard. Charizard's hand was enveloped in a blue coloured flame, which he used to punch the Scizor right in the middle, sending him flying behind, with devastating effects A fire-type move was Super Effective against Scizor and that also at such a close distance it wasn't even funny. And Ash wasn't going to stop.

"Charizard, don't stop. Use Flamethrower!" Another large barrage of flames headed towards Scizor. The Hunter growled.

"Scizor, Protect!" Ash clicked his toungue. He hated that move, delaying the inevitable every time. A multicoloured shield appeared in front of Scizor, which stopped the Flamethrower. And in that moment of unclearity, Ash had struck.

"Charizard, Wing Attack!" Charizard roared and flew as fast as he could at Scizor, and just as the shield died down, Charizard's wing had impacted the Scizor who cried out in pain. Before he could fall though, Charizard grabbed the Scizor, and as if sensing what his trainer was going to say, he opened his mouth and gathered a big, deep breath. "Finish it, flamethrower."

At such a close range, the point blank flamethrower engulfed the Scizor who didn't even have a chance to figure out what happened. In an instant, the last of it's consciousness was drained out and it fell down to the ground with swirls in his eyes. Ash smirked, and Charizard flew back to protectively stand in front of Ash. The Hunter growled.

"Grr... you will pay for this, brat!" The Hunter said, recalling Scizor and walking away. "Just you wait, I'll return and I'll steal _all_ your Pokémon along with Mew."

"And I'll make sure you aren't able to." Ash said. The Hunter turned around and ran away. Ash sighed and looked up at Charizard.

"Thank you Charizard, you were great help." Ash said, walking up and stroking Charizard's cchest once. Charizard growled, and allowed himself to be recalled back in his Pokéball. Ash sighed, and turned to his friends.

"That was that Masked Marauder that was terrorising things in Amethyst town right?" Brock asked, a finger on his chin as he frowned. "He wasn't all that good."

"Yeah, and that also with a Pokémon I've never seen before." Ash shook his head. "Come on, the faster we get to Mauve town, the faster we can get Mew to help."

The rest of the way was simple enough, just a straight small road that headed in the town. They found out why Mauve Town had the name it had, everything was a shade of Pink they had never seen before. Mauve, that was the colour of the town, the same colour that Mew had. Apprently, this town worshipped Mew as their guardian, and he could see many shrines around. Lucky enough, Ash had covered Mew so no one freaked out.

Mauve Town's Pokémon centre was under rebuilding, so there was no nurse to go to, no official, professional healer they could ask for, no professional doctor they could go to. So they did the next best thing, go to the village elder. Usually, in every village, the Elder was one of the people that would have knowledge about Pokémon healing. And hopefully, this one would also have. The Village healer lived in the largest shrine in the town, in the back over a small hill. Of course, they had to climb all the stairs that were to get to the top.

The Elder of the village was an old Lady. She was wearing a traditional Shrine Maiden attire, and had a Wigglytuff and there was a small girl, probably 3 to 4 years younger than Ash and Yancy. Both the Elder and the Girl had light red hair, and bright, purple eyes. The little girl was also wearing traditional Shrine Maiden attire. Both of their attention turned to the group of three children that had climbed up.

"Hello." The Old lady bowed. "My name is Melaine, I'm the Elder of this village and the Shrine Maiden. This is my Granddaughter, Miriana. How can we assist you?"

"We need your help." Ash said, walking in front and removing the cover off Mew. Melaine's eyes widened as she saw the Mew in Ash's hands. "A Pidgeot got us to her while we were on the Cycling road coming towards Mauve Town. She was injured and in a very critical situation, and needs help. I know that village elders are supposed to have adequate information in healing a Pokémon so we hoped you might be able to help us."

"Follow me." Snapping to attention, the Elder straightened herself and turned around. "Miriana, go get a bucket of warm water and our medicine box."

"B But Grandma, t t that is..." The little girl's curious, wide eyes, were staring right at her Grandmother. Melaine looked at her, and gave her a pointed stare. Miriana snapped straight and ran inside to prepare what was told.

"Did you give her anything?" Melaine asked, taking them through the main room of the shrine and a back door which headed back towards a backyard where there was a small house. Inside the house, she asked them to Place Mew on a table so she could get a better look at it.

"Ash gave her a Hyper Potion to heal the scars, and a Revive to heal her." Brock said, bending down so he could help. "I checked her bones by pressing them, I don't think there are any breaks. And if there was any bacterial infection, by now it should have been gone because of the revive by just to be sure I gave her a paste, a mix of Oran, Cherri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, Leppa, Persim and Lum berries."

"I see." Melaine hummed. Miriana ran in with the medicine box, and a small bowl full of warm water and a towel soaked inside of it. Melaine first submerged the towel in the water, and drenched all the water out of it. Then she used it to clean Mew if there was any dirt or grime on her. Ash and Brock had made sure Mew was clean and had given her a thorough check-up for any wounds if there were any, and lucky enough, they found none. After cleaning Mew, she opened her medi-box and removed 2 objects, a double star like medicine and a small, green and cream coloured potion. She first crushed the Max revive and put it into Mew's mouth and sprayed the full restore on Mew. There was a noticeable change as Mew mewled in pain as the Full Restore took effect. Finally, after 20 minutes of writhing around, Mew finally went to sleep, this time a lot less in pain and more like a deep, comfy sleep.

Melaine sighed and closed the box. She finally took a blanket, a warm and fuzzy one, and wrapped Mew in it, and put her inside a padded basket on the side.

"She will be fine." Melaine said, smiling slightly. "She wasn't hurt much, a strange sort of illness, but I am sure the Max Revive and the Full Restore I gave her would heal her properly."

"Thank god." Yancy sighed. "Pidgeot nearly gave us a hell of a scare when he kidnapped Ash. I thought he was done for."

"I had my Pokémon with me, I'm sure I would have been fine." Ash protested. "But still, it is a relief that we managed to save her."

"I would, though, like to know what happened with Mew." Melaine said, taking a seat on a couch. She looked at Miriana, who had taken to play with Eevee and Pikachu, giggling as Eevee jumped on the older Pokémon. She smiled slightly, and looked back at them. "Mew is the guardian Pokémon of this village, we pray to him, or her apparently, so she could give us prosperity. This is the first time anyone has ever seen her in person, and it is quite enriching for me to say the least."

"Well, we were on our way to Mauve Town from Fuscia City." Ash started. "And were almost towards the end of the Current Build, a Pidgeot came out of nowhere and grabbed me."

"We weren't there with him at first." Yancy said. "So we stopped at a resting area a couple miles away, and waited."

"When Pidgeot let me land, I was inside of a shrine, in the forest, and under there they had laid Mew down. At first, I gave her a Hyper Potion and a Revive, which were the strongest healing items I had but it didn't have much effect. After that, I asked Pidgeot to get Brock and Yancy."

"When I got a look at Mew, she was only tired. There were no wounds on her, and she looked to be in Pain. After a while, I sprayed her with another Hyper Potion and used a paste of those berries and fed it to her, hoping that it would be enough. Luckily, she was able to atleast move around, but still not able to act like any Normal Pokémon should." Brock said. "After a night's rest, it got a little too much for us because Mew wasn't improving and we needed an official and professional Doctor."

"And while we were on the edge of the end of the Cycling Road, well, a hunter appeared, he called himself the Masked Marauder, and he was the one we presume who harmed Mew." Yancy said, frowning. "He was a git, simply put. He wanted Mew and battled Ash for it, luckily he was able to defeat his Pokémon with his Charizard. The Hunter went away, and we came here."

"I see." Melaine muttered, staring at the 3 teens, then smiling. "Either way, you probably saved Mew's life and as the elder and the guardian of this shrine, I thank you for saving her. What are your names, by the way?"

"Ash Ketchum." Ash said, tilting his head and smiling.

"Brock Slate." Brock said.

"Yancy Orchid." And finally was Yancy.

"Orchid?" The woman asked, narrowing her eyes and then she widened them. "Ahh yes, I remember you! You were the girl that won the Musical in Amethyst Town and Lavender Town!"

"You saw them?" Yancy blushed suddenly. While some people did recognise her, she couldn't get over the fact that she was famous.

"Of course, both me and my Granddaughter here saw them." Melaine said, looking at her Granddaughter. "Speaking of which, Miriana, come here."

Miriana came over, and sat down beside her Grandmother. She was looking at Yancy, blushing slightly and looking away.

"Miriana here loves your Pokémon." Melaine said. The girl's face suddenly took on a crimson hue.

"Granny!" She shouted, embarrassed.

"Is that so?" Yancy asked, smiling. "I love my Pokémon as well. Would you like to meet them?"

"Yes." Miriana nodded, smiling brightly and jumping up. She tugged on Yancy's arm excitedly and lead her outside the house. Melaine smiled at the surprised but happy look on Yancy's face as she went outside with her, and turned towards Ash and Brock.

"Her parents, they didn't want her." Melaine said, frowning at the reminder. Both the boys looked at her, surprised at the revelation. "They thought she was an accident, and wanted to basically give her away. I protested and became her guardian after they disowned her. Since then she has been living here in Mauve Town with me, as my Heiress, training her in the arts of the older ways. After I pass away, it will be her job to become the guardian of this town."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Brock looked down. "I have 7 siblings, and my own parents had gone away while they were young, only recently my father came back. Yancy also has a sad past."

"Her parents abandoned her in Viridian Forest." Ash said, his eyes blazing. "I can never forgive such people, leaving behind children to fight for their own. They have no rights to call themselves as parents."

"For a boy of 10 years old, you are very mature." Melaine commented. "I presume you were coming to Mauve Town to head to Saffron City?"

"Yes." Brock nodded. "Saffron City is quite a distance away from Fuscia City and we had no plans on going back through the route 13 and 14. We had quite some troubles on that particular route, and we haven't seen this part of the region, so we thought it would be a trip."

"Saffron City, that place has grown darker." The expression on Melaine's face wasn't something you see on a kindly Shrine Maiden's face. "People have started moving away from that place, and very few visit it, only trainers looking for a battle against the gym leader. Mysterious People have been sighted all over the city, and travellers speak of rumours that someone is going to buy the Silph Corp."

"That's impossible." Ash said, his jaw dropping to the ground. "No one except the queen of Rota has that much money on her! No one!"

"While I don't know the exact value of Silph Co.. I take it that it is above what most expect?" Brock asked, looking at Ash knowing he would know the answer.

"It's rated somewhere around 12,000,000,000 Kantonian Pounds." Ash said. "Or a total of 120,000,000,000 Pokédollars."

"That's a lot of money." Brock said after gaping for a bit. "A hundred and twenty Billion Pokédollars? That's insane."

"I know." Melaine nodded, looking at them. She then noticed they both looked slightly dirty, and had leaves and twigs stuck on them, and smiled. "Perhaps you should go an freshen up a bit. I will prepare the guest rooms."

"We wouldn't want to interrupt." Brock said, embarrassed, but one look from the older woman had his silent. "Atleast let me help."

"Don't be afraid to ask for anything, you saved our guardian, the least we can do for you is letting you stay here." Melaine said, asking for Brock and Ash to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you to the guest rooms."

* * *

Little by little, the time had pass so fast that soon enough it was evening. Mew had considerable improved over the day, but she still wasn't healthy enough to be able to get up and do things on her own and it was concerning Melaine. She had tried her best, but the one thing that was wrong with Mew was out of her grasp. She had also called a Shrine Guardian meet where the other shrine maidens and shrine guardians had come over, and had tried their best to heal Mew but nothing seemed to work.

Most of the people in the town were shocked to find out that the 3 children had saved their guardian, and very happy and filled with gratitude they did so and gave them honour by bringing them to their town. Good enough Melaine had told them not to spread the word that there was a Mew in town least people who they didn't want to deal with came over. But that didn't stop them from holding a small feast that night where the trio of Ash, Brock and Yancy were rewarded by making them honorary citizens of their town.

In the night, Ash was leaning outside in the backyard, against a tree branch, sitting with Pikachu on his lap and all his other Pokémon around him, reading the book on Aura that Riley had given him. His progress was good, he had gotten the book almost 2 weeks ago and he had already reached halfway across it, but that was expected. Ash really liked the book and most of it was the theory behind Aura and less of it's application. The only thing that this book till now had said about the practical use of his aura was how to bring it out and visualise it. And as he was reading, he came across a certain paragraph.

 _Aura and Pokémon power._

 _It has been long said, as you know, that the Thousand Handed one created this world by using the natural Aura that floated along the universe. Naturally that meant that Pokémon had Aura as well. Different from the Aura we know and use, Pokémon Aura also known as the_ _ **Elemental Energy**_ _of a Pokémon, is what gives the Pokémon the ability to use their power and turn them into elemental attacks. At first,_ _ **Energies**_ _were of_ _ **Fighting, Fire, Grass, Lightning, Psychic, Water, Darkness, Metal, Fairy and Dragon Energy**_ _along with the_ _ **Normal**_ _or_ _ **Colourless**_ _Energy. As time passed, this was changed into elemental nature and a lot more natures were added, but these energies were the one that in the ancient world had shaped the powers of a Pokémon._

 _Now, as said before, Aura has a limit. It is up on the Pokémon as to how much Aura they can use and depending on their power and age, how much Aura they can contain. Young Pokémon have Aura that can last up to 2 days without rest to regain the Aura, Adolescents for 2 weeks, average or adult Pokémon for upto 2 years without rest and older, more mature and Powerful Pokémon have Aura that can last upto decades, even centuries without rest. Naturally that is not true for their own physical energy because any Pokémon will fall unconscious after 5 days of no rest, that is not true for their Aura._

 _If the Aura of a Pokémon runs out, or goes below a stage called the_ _ **limiter line**_ _, the Pokémon won't be able to regain it with just rest or natural energy. Usually this only happens when younger ones use a lot of power or adolescents get into situations they aren't meant to, and they slowly slowly die out, fading away because their bodies can't conjure up enough Aura to heal itself, and their life force gets converted into Aura._

 _The signs of this are simple to understand, constant fatigue, no improvement with normal medicine and not able to act like they usually do should be enough for you to realise that they need to be boosted up with energy. The bad thing is, very few have the ability for them to boost their Aura. Once above the Limiter line, the Pokémon's aura will start to heal itself back to it's original level on it's own, but for that boost to be provided, they need an outside, external source._

 _In history, Sir Reginos the 4_ _th_ _in the year -983, ie. 983 years before the great war, managed to prove the theory that anyone that can use and transfer their own Aura, whether they be human or Pokémon, can boost or jumpstart the retaining and healing factor of a Pokémon or a Human whose Aura has gone below the limiter line. Of course, it wasn't easy as usually 2 different sources needed to use powerful bursts to heal a Pokémon, it is still possible._

His eyes widened as he suddenly thought about it. Mew wasn't able to move without much help, she was constantly tired and she wasn't acting like what Mew was described to act like. The Elders of this village said that Mew was a fun loving Pokémon and would never rest, this Mew though did nothing but rest, so could it be true? Could it be the fact that somehow Mew used a lot of her Aura and was in a dire circumstance? He went back to the book and read further and further, hoping to find any other clues that could help him. At the end of the chapter, he did find the clue.

 _To gauge the level of a Pokémon's Aura, you need to know how to access Aura Sight, which is one of the most advanced arts in the training of Aura. If you are reading this book, there is good chance that you will not be able to find anything regarding that subject._

He sighed and closed the book, keeping a bookmark at the page. He then put Pikachu to the side, and rushed inside the house towards his room, and grabbed his Pokégear. If this was true, he needed to ask Riley about this. Luckily, the man was free.

" _Ash._ " Apparently he was eager to talk to him as well, judging by his tone. " _Good to hear from you, I was worried when I couldn't contact you yesterday? How is it going?_ "

"Good." Ash answered. "Are you free right now?"

" _Of course, it's nearly 2000, I definitely am free._ " Riley replied, slightly concerned. " _Are you alright? Did something happen?_ "

"Well, when I was headed to Mauve Town from Fuscia City, I sort of got kidnapped by a Pidgeot." Ash said. Riley guffawed from the other side. "And he dropped me in front of a heavily injured Mew."

" _A WHAT?!"_ There was shuffling heard from the other side, as if someone had just got out of bed or fell off from a chair. " _A MEW?! An honest, actual MEW_?!

"Yes." Ash said, amused at Riley's reaction. "A Mew. It was heavily injured. I gave it a Revive and a Hyper Potion, and it seemed to get a little bit better but not so much. After a while, Pidgeot got Brock and Yancy, and we gave it more medicine and a mixture of the common effect berries, it wasn't as helpful. The next day, we set out for Mauve Town with Mew, and ran into that Masked Marauder that was supposed to be in Amethyst town. He had a Pokémon named Scizor, which I think was an evolution of Scyther. Anyway, I managed to defeat it quite easily, and he ran off and we came to Mauve Town in the shrine of the elder, where she gave it a Max Revive and a Full Restore. It has been almost 12 hours and there is still no change in her condition."

" _That is not good._ " Riley said after a moment. " _A revive and a Hyper Potion should have been enough to heal mew, and a Max Revive and a Full Restore enough to bring her back to her actual condition. Wait a second, her?!_ "

"Yes, the Pokédex said so." Ash said, chuckling. "I know, even I was shocked, until now all I have believed was that Legendaries were genderless, apparently it is not entirely true."

" _Unbelieveable._ " Riley muttered. " _Not only you run into a Mew but manage to change the view of countless of years worth of research about the Legendaries._ "

"Well, that is not all." Ash said, interrupting Riley's muttering. "I was reading the book on Aura you gave me and I came across the chapter that said Aura and Pokémon, and read that sometimes Pokémon use their Aura to such an extent that they aren't able to regain it and start to fade away because their life-force is being eaten away."

" _And you think that is what is happening to Mew._ " Riley finished for him. Ash gave him an affirmative response and he was silent for a minute. " _Where are you right now? Mauve Town, right?_ "

"Yes." Ash nodded. There was some other sound heard from the other side, the sound of a bag being packed. "Are you coming over?"

" _Yes."_ Riley said. " _It is the job of an Aura Guardian to help any Pokémon when in trouble, you know that. I know what you want to do, you want to transfer Aura to Mew above the limiter line so she can regain it, and I totally agree. The truth is that I've seen a Mew before in Rota, and not exactly close enough, I know that healing a Legendary is not going to be easy. And the fact also rises that the Masked Marauder is nearby, so we might be able to catch it. I will be there by the morning, luckily I haven't left yet. I'm currently in Johto, and by Skarmory, I should be at Mauve Town by tomorrow morning. Make sure to keep me updated if anything happens, I'll inform Lance about this later on._ "

"Alright." Ash sighed in relief. "Take care."

He then got up and ran out to explain the situation to Melaine. Luckily Brock and Yancy were also nearby.

"An Aura Guardian." Melaine said, astounded, and leaning back on her chair. "My, it has been almost a lifetime since I've heard about that."

"You know about Aura Guardians?" Yancy asked, curious. "I mean, I ask Ash about them, and I still don't really know much about them."

"They are like heroes." Melaine said. "People with the power to use Aura, really, really amazing people, the last time I heard about one was when I was younger than Miriana currently is, in folklore."

"So you thin Riley can boost up Mew's Aura?" Brock asked. "I didn't know Aura could work that way."

"It was in the book." At Melaine's look, Ash specified. "I'm an Aura user, I can use Aura."

"Interesting." Melaine said, smiling at the boy. "Perhaps you are more special than what you seem like."

"W well, I'm not that good." Ash said bashfully, blushing slightly. "I mean, I only know theory and a little bit of visualising my Aura, if I was able to do more I would have healed Mew by myself."

"What you are doing though, young man, is enough." Melaine said, getting up. "Go on now, it is getting late. If this Aura Guardian Trainee is coming forward tomorrow, you will need to be ready early if you want to help him."

* * *

The next morning, probably at 0730 just after they had finished breakfast, Riley arrived. He came on his Skarmory, looking as fresh as a daisy and even though he had travelled all night, he looked as if he had the best sleep in days.

"Ash." Riley smiled and greeted the man. Ash smiled back and raised his fist which Riley bumped back, the way Aura Trainee's and Guardians greeted each other. "It has been a while."

"Hey Riley." Ash greeted him. "Yes it has, I'm glad you came in. Mew's not exactly doing well."

"Let's get right to it then." Riley said, and followed Ash inside where Melaine was doing her best to keep Mew stable, but Mew was too weak. Her Pink skin almost looked white, and she was writhing in pain. Melaine looked up and looked right at Riley. "I presume you are the elder of the village?"

"My name is Melaine." She stood up, bowing. "I am honoured to meet someone that is trained in Aura."

"The honour is mine." Riley bowed back. "May i?"

"Of course." Melaine moved back, letting Riley do his work. Riley leaned down and put a gloved hand on Mew, and closed his eyes, focusing. His hand glowed blue for a few moments after he opened his eyes, and they weren't happy.

"She is in very dire condition." Riley said, removing his bag and setting it down, he looked in haste. "Very, _very_ dire one. Her Aura is almost gone, if you hadn't called me tomorrow night, she would have been dead. We need to jumpstart her Aura, now. Elder Melaine, is there any free area nearby, where we can work in privacy without disturbing anyone?"

"Of course, the backyard." Melaine said. Ash picked up Mew and followed them to the backyard, laying Mew down on a table that Riley had picked up. Melaine went back and stood in the sideline, where Brock and Yancy also showed up, standing beside her to watch the 2 work. "We'll be here."

"Ash." Riley turned to look at Ash. "Remember, Aura is very Volatile, one mistake and we will all be dead. Follow my lead, and do as I say. This is difficult but easy at the same time, okay? Now, call upon your Aura and push it into Mew."

Ash nodded, and closed his eyes, raising his hands and calling upon his powers. Soon enough, power rushed out of his hand and formed a ball in front of him. This time it was much steadier. He then lowered it down upon where Mew was, and felt Mew's own Aura and almost cursed at the state. His own ball of Aura started to wobble with Ash's emotions, something which Riley noticed.

"Don't fret." Riley instructed. "Don't let emotions take control of you, be at calm, and accept Mew's Aura. Try to connect to her."

Ash closed his eyes once again, and pushed his Aura out towards Mew. Mew, who felt the Aura, happily extended her own one, forming a bond. His blue Aura was suddenly mixed with mew's own pale blue one, covering Mew in a sheen of blue. Riley then placed his hand above Ash's, and extended his own Aura forward so the 3 Aura's merged, and a Shining Blue light overtook Mew. Then, she accepted the Aura, converting into her own, and Ash suddenly felt energy leaving from his body.

"Control, Ash, control." Riley said to him. "Control your power, don't let it slip, it will be slow, but we need it to be slow. Converting Aura from a human's to a Pokémon takes time."

Ash gulped, and did his best not to pass out. It was difficult enough to control it, and being emotionless while doing it was also difficult enough. Slowly though, colour was returning to Mew's skin as her Aura levels rose, slowly returning back to what was expected, and then, they all glowed in a blue coloured Aura that caused the onlookers to look away.

After the glow died down, they saw Ash and Riley, both standing straight, and much to their happiness and surprise, Mew floating up in the sky, her green eyes now shining bright and a smile on her face.

"Mew!" Mew mewled, flying around Ash as fast as she could, then dropping into his arms and cuddling up to him. "Mew!"

"It's no problem." Ash said, grabbing Mew. "I'll do it anytime you ask, just don't get into trouble like this again."

"Heh." Riley snorted, rubbing his arm atop the legendary. "A 10 year old scolding a Legendary, what has the world come to again? Though I must say, that was impressive."

"I totally agree." Melaine said, walking towards them. "Truly, Aura is really amazing. Folklore was right, Aura could heal Pokémon as well."

"Not many people realise this." Riley nodded, looking at Brock and Yancy. "How are you two doing, Brock, Yancy?"

"I'm fine." Brock said, shaking Riley's hand. "Happy that Mew's doing good though."

"Great." Riley grinned, looking back at Mew and Ash. "So, I'd like it if you take me to the-."

"Madam Melaine!" A little girl ran inside the backyard. "I I it's horrible, they have...!"

"Calm down." Melaine shouted, resting her hands on the girls shoulder before she could break down. "And tell me what happened."

"I I was playing with Miriana outside near the stairs, and some people in black came up, grabbed her and told me give you this!" The girl said, tears falling down her eyes. "T t they were mean, and had red R's on them and-."

"Red R's?" Ash asked, his eyes going cold. "And black suits? Why do they sound familiar?"

"Team rocket." Riley spat, gritting his teeth. He took the letter from the Girls hands, and read it out loud. " _If you want the girl, give me the boy with the red eyes, his Pokémon and Mew, 1 hour later, outside the gate of the village._ "

"So he is behind Ash!" Yancy gasped, her hands going to her mouth. "No, y you have to do something!"

"It's simple." Ash shook his head. "I go to him, I'll say that Mew escaped, and hopefully he'll give Mirianna back."

"Not a chance!" Riley and Melaine exclaimed together. Then Melaine insisted, though there was a worry in her eyes. "We need to plan this out, Ash. Let us head in and think more about this."

* * *

An hour later, Ash walked the road outside of the village, near the entrance of the village. The Masked Marauder and 2 of his goons were waiting for him. He was surprised to find that there was no one else, and even more so when his senses said these 3 were really alone. And his anger only rose when he saw who was with the man. Their names, if he remembered right, were Arianna and Proton, 2 of the 'executives' of team rocket, and both of them were sneering at him. With Arianna was Miriana(I sort of forgot about the similar names), who had tears running down her eyes.

"So you are smart enough." There was a very menacing grin in the Hunter's face. "And it seems you brought Mew too."

"Oh yes I did." Ash sneered back. "Now free her and I'll come to you."

"Are you crazy brat!" Proton sneered. "There is no way we are freeing the girl! Come with us silently or she will pay!"

"Free the girl, and we all can go peacefully." Ash said, his eyes gaining a glint in them. "Or I'll call the G-men right here right now. Their number is on speed-dial, and I'm sure Giovanni won't like to break the 2 of you out again."

"Y you little!" Arianna screamed, gritting her teeth. "Just you wait, you'll get yours soon enough!"

"Shut up." The hunter's cold voice came through. "And free the girl. We don't need her anyway, we have what we want."

"A are-." At the hunter's look, Arianna did as told, and Miriana ran, passing Ash soon enough. As soon as she did however, Ash grinned and removed the cover, where Pikachu was waiting. And as soon as he did so, the 3 Team Rocket memeber's eyes widened. Before they could reach out for their Pokéballs, though, Ash had already struck. "Oh shit!"

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash said, throwing Pikachu up, who let loose a giant arc of electricity towards the 3 of his opponents. Unfortunately, the Hunter had thought ahead and had brought a Pokémon. This time it was a Rhydon.

"Rhydon, take it!" Rhydon just stood, stopping the Thunderbolt due to it's typing. "Boy, you are going to pay for tricking us. I'll kill you myself after I kill that damn rodent of yours."

"The only thing you will be killing is yourself when you realise how screwed you are." Ash sneered back. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

Pikachu landed on the ground, and disappeared, appearing on top of Rhydon and slamming his glowing hot tail on top of it. Rhydon growled as he pain set in of the super effective attack, and he moved to swat Pikachu off, but Pikachu was fast enough and he just jumped off, and landed in front of Ash.

"I told you, not to give the girl!" Arianna exclaimed, releasing her own Pokémon. "Go, Vileplume, stop them with stun-spore!"

"Skarmory, Air Slash." Riley said from behind Ash, coming out of the woods. "By the way, I sort of destroyed the chopper you had in the woods, my bad, but you weren't going to need it anyway."

"Y you!" Proton shouted, suddenly fear rising up in his eyes. "I it's the Aura Trainee! Crap, we need to run, there is no way we can win!"

"Shut up and stay behind." The Masked Marauder grit his teeth. These brats had outsmarted them, how was that possible?! "Arianna, you take on that Pikachu, leave the Skarmory to me."

"Understodd." Airanna nodded, glaring at Ash. "Vileplume, use Razor Leaf!"

"Pikachu, stop it with Thunderbolt!" Pikachu used Thunderbolt to stop the incoming barrage of super sharp leaves. "Now, Quick Attack!"

"Not so fast, poison powder!" Vileplume launched a large ball of purple coloured powder in the air, which dispersed when it collided the ground. Pikachu though, was faster. It just made an entire line through the powder and collapsed against Vileplume. "What?!"

"Pikachu, Mega Punch." Due to the closeness, the glowing fist of the Mega Punch hit head on and it really did a lot of damage to the Vileplume, who screeched as he was thrown back. "Now, end it, Thunderbolt, full power!"

A large arc of electricity and Vileplume was done for. Ash snorted.

"Really?" He said as the poison died down, and looked at a nervous Arianna blankly. "Really? Why did you escape if you didn't want to train? You are as pathetic as you were."

Similarly, Skarmory and Riley had done short work of Rhydon. A couple of steel wings, a move called Flash Cannon and that was it for Rhydon. It seemed that really no one in Team rocket was a capable battler except Giovanni himself.

"I thought Giovanni would train his second cousin better." Riley scoffed. "Apparently, I was wrong. Now come with us silently, we will use force. Pikachu's thunder wave can do a lot of damage to your nervous systems."

"Silently? Oh no Aura Trainee, I am not going anywhere." The Marauder said, looking up. Another chopper rushed past above them, and the Marauder grabbed onto the rope. Arianna also jumped to grab on and before Proton could do so, Pikachu had struck, tackling the Executive down and Mega Punching him in the face knocking him out. "Grr... We will meet again, boy, and don't expect lineince then!"

The chopper flew off to the distance, leaving Ash and Riley with a knocked out team rocket executive. Riley managed to take a photo of the Chopper before they ran away.

* * *

It took a couple of hours for Riley to sort out everything with the Police and this time, he was going to have Proton be escorted with 8 guards and not only 2, all of them being good trainers. Luckily, he had made it so that Ash didn't get any media coverage, and had just termed his help as a 'certain anonymous party that had a great sense of justice'. He had a feeling that was meant to be a code, but he shook the feeling off. Right now, he was standing outside the Shrine where they had found Mew, who was fittering about.

"Mew~" Mew cried out, flying excitedly now that she had her full strength. "Mew!"

"I am glad to see you're fine too Mew." Ash grinned, running a hand through her tail as she flew by. "What will you do now? If you stay here, they will come behind you."

"Mew!" Mew said, coming to a stop in front of Ash. "Mew! Mew! Mew!"

"What is she saying?" Yancy whispered in Ash's ear. "Did she say where she is going?"

"I think she said something about a giant tree." Ash said, looking at Riley for confirmation. "A very large, giant tree."

"The tree of beginning, back in Rota." Riley said, smiling. Mew nodded, and did a circle. "Well, I'll say that if you want help, you can come and find me, I am usually around Rota."

"Mew!" Mew cried happily, doing another circle around Ash. "Mew!"

"Yeah, I promise to come and visit you once." Ash said, smiling. "Good bye Mew, I'll see you again for sure."

"Mew!" Mew cried, and left in a flash of light. Riley sighed and looked at Ash.

"Ash, you did really good." Riley said. "Your confidence in your Pokémon, your quick actions and your readiness to help anyone is what is required to be an Aura Guardian and inevitably a Pokémon Master. I'm sure you are going to great places ahead. I'll contact Lance, he's the one handling the Rocket situation in Kanto, and inform him about all this, I have already told him about Proton. Don't worry, he won't tell a soul."

"Alright." Ash nodded, and looked at Brock and Yancy. "So we're going to saffron now right? If our work is over?"

"Yeah, a night's rest, and towards Saffron." Brock said. "It's a 3 day journey from here to Celadon and another half day to get to Saffron. I'll tell you, I want to get out of that city as soon as we are done with the badge."

"And it's a good thing that you want to do so." Riley said darkly. "Rocket grunts have been sighted moving openly around the city, and the Police is doing nothing. You really need to take care while there, I would have said to skip Saffron but you'll have to take on Sabrina either way. Best of luck, Ash, and call me if anything comes up."

Then Riley also left on his Skarmory, heading towards the Indigo League, where Lance would probably be waiting. Finally, the 3 were alone, and Yancy broke a silence.

"Well, that was a trip." Yancy said sarcastically, causing the 2 boys to chuckle. "Who would have thought? A Mew?"

"Yeah, that was certainly a trip." Ash nodded, looking at Brock. "Come on, Melaine said that there is going to be a prayer tonight, and we'll have to attend it."

Together, the 3 walked back towards Mauve Town. Yeah, it was a great thing that Ash was brave and smart, or god knows what would have happened.

 _ **THE END**_

 **Author's Notes- Well, here you go, the special chapter. So, first of all, I'll like to say this, my brother, a cousin, who is 15 years old, wrote down from the point after Riley came in, and the entire battle scene with team rocket, and such. It was supposed to be practice for his exams, and I gave it a 7 out of 10 rating. Feel free to write your review's, I'll pass it on to him. And don't worry, if it's shitty, I have an alternate which I'll upload within a week.**

 **About Mew and her not joining Ash, well, that for the future isn't it? I won't lie, Ash will get a few Legendaries in this story, but not so soon in his journey. The next chapter will be all about the travel to Saffron City, a little bit of training, a new Pokémon for Yancy, a couple new meetings and of course, the revealation of the situation in Saffron City. The Silph Co. Takeover will be next and it is going to be** _ **huge**_ **.**

 **But the next story I'll mostly upload is going to be The Dragon King, so if you read that, feel free to eye it out in 2 weeks or so, I promise there is going to be an update this time. As for the next thing on my mind, well, let's just wait till that point comes in.**

 **Till then, this is Omnipotent97 signing off. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me and will continue to support this fic, and remember, flamers and bashers will be ignored, constructive negative criticism will be appreciated. I'm sorry if I am not up to your standards.**


	17. Road to Saffron

**Disclaimer- I DON'T OWN POKÉMON! IT BELONGS TO GAME FREAK!**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Pokédex_

Chapter 17- Route to Saffron.

Leaving Mauve town the day after the great prayer to Mew, the group of Ash, Brock and Yancy made their way into the Magenta Woods, a place famous for the strange, magenta coloured trees.

There had been a lot of research on how has the trees grown up to be Magenta in colour, but there had been no definitive answer. Some said it was a natural process, some said it was an incredibly complex chemical reaction that took place within the soil of the woods that caused the trees to turn Magenta. Literally everything about the trees was the same, Magenta colour, whether it be the stumps, the leaves or even the flowers and fruits. Ash was sure if the place was seen from the sky, it would look like an entire field of magenta colour. And it wasn't even like those Sakura trees one would usually see in parks where people would gather up for picnics and such. No, it was weird, bordering on unnatural.

But that didn't mean it wasn't a popular spot. Known to have the largest population of Pecha Berries in the entire Kanto region, this spot was equally famous for the amounts of trainers it held. Until now, Ash had already battled 8 trainers and they had only been 3 hours into the Forest.

"Ash." Said 10 year old looked up from his Pokégear and at Brock who had said that. "Do you think we should stop for lunch?"

Ash looked down onto his Pokégear at the time, which read a bright 1140 in neon. It would take Brock at least an hour or so to prepare lunch, and in that time they would all need to not only feed their Pokémon, but also stock up on water and on berries.

Mauve Forest, as said, was special for its pink trees. For the same reason, they could not cut down any of the trees because they were worried something bad might happen. For some strange reason, some scientists thought that because of the same colour in the entire forest recurring in every tree, somehow every tree was interconnected sentimentally. They feared breaking down even one tree would end up as a disaster and take away this strange pink colour. Of course, there were many contradictions to this theory because many trees had been burnt or destroyed during the freak storm a couple of months ago in the area that didn't have any particular offense, but just for the sake of conservation, they had made this place a heritage site, meaning no cutting down of trees or damaging the environment was allowed. That lead to the group's other problem. Firewood.

Judging by the size of the forest, Ash and Brock had deduced it would take them at least 1 full day of travelling to get to the other side, that is, back to Celadon City. That would mean wood enough for them to last for Lunch and Dinner for the first day, and Breakfast and Lunch for the next, and wood enough to last one night. The road through was by no means windy, just a simple road going through the entire forest, it wasn't even a road actually, just a normal path trainers used, which the Pokégear had helpfully marked out for them.

So to rectify that problem, they had done the next best thing. It was impossible for Ash to carry around Snorlax because there was no way he would be able to cater to the giant Pokémon inside due to fear of accidently grabbing one of the berries growing on the tree. No matter how much he tried, Snorlax was like any other Pokémon when it came to new types of food, extremely excited and one minded. So he had sent Snorlax back to Professor Oak's Lab. The Professor had happily accepted to care for Snorlax till Ash got out of the forest, meaning now Ash only had Pikachu, Charizard, Ivysaur, Wartortle and Eevee. Eevee was way above the 2 week mark till her birth and was on level 8 now, by just watching Ash's other Pokémon train she had grown up many levels. She knew the moves Sand Attack, Tackle and Bite till now and Ash was working with her to teach her Iron Tail, but it wasn't a hurry for Eevee at least.

However, Sabrina was no joke. From what he had gathered, Sabrina was the strongest trainer in the region, on par with the elite 4. She only used 1 Pokémon, an Alakazam, which was on level 56 and was the strongest Pokémon a gym leader used that, was known. For that, Ash only had one counter, and that was Charizard. Pikachu's agility wouldn't be worth anything against a Psychic type, especially one a strong as Sabrina's Alakazam, and Ivysaur would probably find it easier to go up against Moltres. No, Charizard was the only one he knew that would be even of relative effect against Sabrina. That is why he was making sure Charizard perfected Shadow Claw. It would be his ace against Sabrina, and perhaps all he would need to win. But that didn't mean he was going to waste time with focusing only on Charizard.

Within 3 months of his travels, Ash had deduced out a sort of a pattern. Of course, everyone knew that the stronger the Pokémon grew, the more experience it needed to gain a level. But one thing he figured out was that it also depended from Pokémon to Pokémon as to _how much_ experience points it needed to level up. On an average, Pikachu needed an average of 7500 to 8000 experience points to gain a level, which meant almost 3 and a half hours worth of training with his other Pokémon. On an average day, Ash trained for 2 hours in the morning before they started their day's journey, 1 hour during lunch break and another 2 hours during evening break. That meant Pikachu could gain 1 level per day in training alone, without the experience he gained by battling. Similarly, Charizard required almost 8500 experience points to gain a level. In his team, Snorlax was the one Pokémon that ate the most experience, almost about 10000, and that wasn't funny.

Regardless, from what he had deduced, on a normal, average day, all his Pokémon gained 1 level, at least, with Wartortle and Eevee easily gaining almost 4 to 5 levels daily. Of course, Wartortle wasn't far behind, at level 44, he was gaining speed. Most of his team was between 48-50, with exception of Snorlax who was on level 47. Pikachu had passed the level 50 barrier and was nearing level 51, and Charizard, according to his calculations, would hit 50 anytime today. Considering they had one full day in the forest, after which they would reach the Celadon-Vermilion highway, which meant another 4 to 5 days to Celadon, he was sure Charizard would reach the same level as Sabrina's Alakazam soon enough.

So he had made a good plan to gain at least 1 level in a day, especially for Charizard, and tried his best to keep the training up to part for his other Pokémon. But currently, it was the time to stop for lunch.

"Yeah, we should." Ash nodded, looking around to find a clearing. "According to the maps we downloaded last night, there is supposed to be a small lake somewhere around here. I guess we can find the lake and take a rest there."

"Yeah, it says the lake is still 4 miles ahead of us." Brock said, looking back up. "It's 5 minutes out of the path through the forest but many trainers gather around the lake so we can take rest there easily."

"So to the lake we go then." Yancy said. "I have some new ideas I want to try out and Vulpix seems ready to get some good experience."

Yancy also had improved. Not all battles were fought by Ash. Brock and Yancy got equal chances too. Mainly, Yancy fought every 3rd Trainer and Ash and Brock interchanged. In short, Ash fought 1 trainer, then Brock, and then once again Ash and then Yancy and it went on. Considering there were a lot of trainers in the forest, it was good practice for all of them and Vulpix was able to control her new attack Will-o-the-wisp quite naturally after practicing it multiple times.

And by multiple times she meant that she almost took out Ash's hat, Ivysaur's flower, their sleeping tent and a tree with her dismal aim before Yancy was finally able to work it out. Lucky enough they had Wartortle who doused out the flames quite easily before they could do lasting harm or damage.

Yancy's next Musical was supposed to be in Cinnabar Island, the location of Ash's 7th gym. After which, they would have to take a detour to the Sevii Islands, where on the 2nd Island the Orchestra was going to be held. It was co-incidental in a way, because Ash was planning on visiting the first three Islands either way, they would be great for training, and not to mention the Pokémon he could record in the Pokédex.

"There it is." Brock pointed out to the simmer blue lake that could be seen in the distance. "It doesn't have a name but it's big enough for us to at least cook lunch and fill up our bottles."

"It would have been amusing if the lake was also pink." Ash muttered. "Better yet called 'Mauve Lake'."

"Yeah, people in Kanto have a tendency to give cliché names to places." Brock sweat dropped. "Literally, almost every street in Pewter City has something or the other starting with the name 'pewter'. Pewter Paradise, Pewter Ice-cream bar and even Pewter Public Bathroom!"

"Well I'm glad that Pallet town centre isn't all that big." Ash said. "An airport, a harbour, a train station and that's it for the 'entertainment' section. Everything else is in Viridian city. But can't beat the food there though."

"I've never eaten street food." Yancy admitted. "I mean, not that it's incredibly expensive or anything, I just found it unhealthy. Now thought, it's a different thing altogether."

"Yeah, we've eaten a _lot_ of street food over our journey." Brock said. "But it was good though. No need to go into high end restaurants and hotels, and we also got to experience the real delicacies of Kanto. I don't know about you but Fuscia City's special Panini roll was the best thing that I've tasted in a long while, and we eat sandwiches almost every day."

"Yup. I always thought the berried around Viridian City were the best, especially the berries that we find in the middle of Viridian Forest. But I find the Celadon City berries much better than what I had in Viridian." Yancy said. She then looked at Ash. "What about you Ash? Do you find something worth of your notice?"

"Well, I won't lie, we've eaten all sorts of dishes in the region, and we're going to probably eat lot more by the time we return back home, or at least to Pallet in mine and Yancy's case, but I found that it is not the ingredients that differ from cities and not even the dishes. You'll find rice and curry, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and pastas all over Kanto, but the thing that differs is the style of how it is made." Ash said, rather acutely for a 10 year old boy. "What I mean is that, well, yeah, I love the Kantonian food, but the things that I ate in Pallet town are always the best for me. And regarding my favourite street food, you know that cake we ate in Lavender? The cheesecake filled with fruits and cream cheese? I liked that the most."

"Can't deny that. I think it's name was 'supreme fruit delight' or something." Yancy said, her mouth watering at the reminder of the cake they had. "I'll remember it forever and one day or the other I'll go there to eat just the cake."

"Speaking of food, this is the best area to sit down and camp." Brock said, interrupting any other details. He unclasped his bag and removed it out of his back and set it by his feet. "Let's set up for lunch, we have a long day of travel ahead."

"Alright then." Ash tilted his head in approval and put his own travelling bag down. He spied 4 rocks and pointed at it. "There's our seating place."

"I'll work on a fire-pit." Brock volunteered. "Yancy, the firewood please."

"Here you go." Yancy handed him the fire-wood which she kept in her bag. "I think that's the last I have."

"Yes, it should be. Ash has one set left for dinner and then I have enough to last for breakfast the next day." Brock said. "Ash, some water, please."

"Here you go." Already knowing Brock was going to ask it, he grabbed the bucket that Brock had set down and put it in front of Brock. "What are you making? Insta-noodles?"

"Yeah, it's the best thing we can do." Brock said. "We have bread so we can make toast tomorrow morning. Eggs will be needed for stew tonight and omelette tomorrow morning. And I don't think I have got bacon or anything like that, so yeah, we'll have to work with Instant Noodles."

"Well, we have to work with what we have." Yancy sighed. "But seriously, next time can't we choose anything other than Spicy Curry or Beef stew?"

"Alright, it'll take me 4 to 5 mins to get it ready." Brock said, getting out the packets of Instant Ramen. "I guess we'll be stopping here for an hour or so. If you guys want to start feeding the Pokémon, go ahead."

"Yeah, I'll get onto that." Yancy chimed, grabbing the packs of Pokéfood and the bowls. They had large bowls so 2 Pokémon could eat together. "Come on guys! It's time to eat!"

All of the released Pokémon happily rushed towards Yancy so she could serve them their favourite meals, parting into groups ranging from small to medium sized to large. Pikachu and Meowth shared one bowl, Eevee and Vulpix shared another bowl, Cleafable and Ivysaur shared one bowl, Onix got his own bowl and so. Charizard, who was much interested in training, only ate his own food _after_ he decided he had earned it, and nothing Ash said deterred him from this mindset so Ash simple shook his head and concentrated on Charizard and showed him the pointers as to what to do and what to not.

Currently, he was trying to teach Charizard the dark type move Crunch. It was an incredibly amazing decision of him to ask Professor Oak on suggestions on Books of Move Tutoring.

Move Tutoring was an essential to breeders and Trainers. Professional Move Tutors took a lot of money and sadly they were popular as well, considering not every trainer is as passionate about raising and training their Pokémon as Ash was. Brock, being the helpful person he was, also helped Ash along by buying one copy and they learned the art of Move Tutoring together. Onix, Snorlax and Charizard were their 'test subjects' as they had the most variety of moves they could learn, and it wasn't as if they weren't succeeding. Ash had successfully taught Snorlax how to use Ice Beam by concentrating the power of Ice Punch in the form of a beam that could be launched from his mouth. Sure, he had to have Charizard help Snorlax learn Flamethrower and as he had noticed before, if one Pokémon knew one particular move, the other learnt it fast enough, and within 3 days Snorlax had learnt Flamethrower. Of course, it wasn't as good as Charizards, but it was because Snorlax was not a Fire type Pokémon.

Back on track, after learning Flamethrower, it was easy for Snorlax to replace the 'fire energy' of the Flamethrower with the 'Ice Energy' of the Ice Punch and Viola, Snorlax had learnt Ice Beam. That was what had given Ash to continue the art of Move Tutoring and was slowly understanding the complex concepts of it.

Brock however was much better in the art. As an aspiring breeder with much more knowledge solely on raising Pokémon that Ash, he had understood the more complex theories behind Move tutoring faster and better than the 10 year old boy, and was easily teaching the low levelled moves to his Pokémon and helping Ash understand better. And apparently, no matter how difficult it sounded, Crunch was an easy move to learn somehow. His Wartortle knew how to use bite, and Wartortle had 'explained' to Charizard under Ash's command on how to learn bite Bite. It was simple enough as to how to use Bite, and soon enough Charizard was on his way to learn Crunch, and it would be an incredibly helpful move against Sabrina and it wasn't a difficult task to teach Charizard crunch as it was a more powerful, more concentrated version of bite.

And it wasn't only Charizard that Ash was training. Side by side, he was also training Wartortle in learning the move Ice Beam as well. Of course, once again he was using his 'Pokémon to Pokémon knowledge transfer' method ("I still think that's a lame name Ash." Yancy had said, shaking her head.) By that, he meant he had Snorlax explain to Wartortle how to use Ice Beam and Wartortle replaced the Water type energy of Water Gun into the Ice Type energy for Ice Beam. It was going smoothly, until now. The mastery of the move would take time but Wartortle was easily on his way to learn Ice Beam and perhaps the further, more difficult versions of that move.

"Come on Ash!" Brock called out to him 10 minutes later, placing the Noodles with a twist on the small table he had set up. It wasn't anything much, really, it was only a large chopping board that Brock carried placed over 4 flat surfaced rocks. "The food is ready. You can train after we finish eating."

"Alright." Ash nodded, looking back at Charizard who was currently practicing the move Crunch. "Alright Charizard, I'm going to finish lunch. You should as well."

"Charr!" Charizard growled lowly, looking at his bowl, and nodding, walking off towards his lunch. Ash shook his head and smiled, sitting down in front of Brock and Yancy.

"The rate Charizard's been training, he will surpass Pikachu in no time." Yancy commented, looking at Charizard or more specifically his tail where the blue coloured flame was roaring hot. "He's already on level 51, isn't he?"

"Yes, Charizard is on 51, Pikachu should be hitting 54 anytime now. He mastered Thunder yesterday." Ash said, nodding. "And Charizard should finish learning Crunch by the end of the day. That will give me enough moves that are super effective against Sabrina, Bite, Shadow Claw and Crunch."

"And coupled with Charizards other moves, you should be able to give Sabrina an even fight for the badge." Brock nodded. "I've heard about Sabrina, she's a psychic, and is able to read the minds in battle. In League matches that is prohibited, but in the gym match it is allowed."

"Don't worry, I've got this covered." Ash said. "The book I got on Aura covered on protecting my mind. I should be good enough to keep her out of my mind. If not, well, I guess I'll hope she isn't able to predict the future."

"That's just not fair." Yancy pouted. "You won't even be able to stand a chance if she can predict the future."

"Hey, it's not only me who is going to challenge Sabrina okay? Infect, she has been beaten before. Even though the Gym with the least losses, somewhere about 8 in 50 matches, she can be beaten." Ash said, his eyes shining in determination. "And I'm going to make sure that I at least match her toe to toe, and if I lose, give her one hell of a fight."

"Let's hope you don't lose then." Brock said. "We should be out of the forest tomorrow by lunchtime. After that a 3 to 4 day journey to Celadon and then half a day to Saffron."

"So 5 more days of travel." Yancy drooped. "Man, as much as I love exploring the world, travelling is something I don't think I'll ever get used to, especially heavy travelling."

"But that is the main part of exploring isn't it?" Ash said. "We've travelled the entire of Northern Kanto, Eastern Kanto and the Central Southern part of Kanto. Soon enough, once we're done with Saffron, we'll have finished Central Kanto, and all that is remaining is Cinnabar, Seafoam Islands and the Sevii Islands, and we're done with the entire of Kanto.

"Hey, don't forget the Indigo Plateau." Brock added. "There's where the indigo league will take place."

"As if I would ever forget that." Ash snorted, finishing the last of his lunch and getting up. It was a good thing they had disposable dishes and plates. Grabbing a garbage bag, he disposed off the Paper foam bowl and forks, and kept it near his 'seat'. "It's my turn to do the washing isn't it?"

"Yes." Brock nodded. "I've collected the utensils. You finish the washing while we finish eating."

"Alright then." Ash tilted his head and picked up the bucket of water and the utensils that needed to be washed, walking towards the lake to finish off the washing before they could rest.

* * *

"Boss, everything is ready." The leader of Team Rocket looked up from his position on the throne, his hands clasped in front of him and his face on top of his hands. "All the preparations have been made. We only need to move everything and we can launch on Saturday."

"Good." Giovanni said, looking at his right hand man. "Very good. Did 'those 3' crack yet?"

"No Boss, they refuse to say anything yet." The man Giovanni was speaking to replied. He had light blue coloured hair. "No one knows what happened to them, but it seems that whatever 'it' did, it broke them."

"I see." A manic smile lit up on Giovanni's face. "That is what I expected. Any notifications on where 'it' is?"

"N no my master, b but we are working quite hard on it." The other figure standing beside the man replied. That was the figure of Arianna, and she was shaking. "B but we've tried our best! We-."

"Enough, Arianna, I don't want to hear your blubbering failures anymore." Giovanni said harshly. "Find me a location, within the month, or don't bother coming back."

"Y Yes sir." Arianna bowed low and hastily left the room, leaving the blue haired man and the Boss alone.

"Shall I commence the move?" The short blue haired man asked. Giovanni got up and looked out of his office building. "Or should we wait?"

"Begin the moving process." Giovanni said finally. "And Archer, make no mistake. I don't want anything to stop us. We need the Master Ball and all the data from Silph Co. Once we have all of it, nothing will be able to stop us."

"As you wish Boss." The man named Archer replied bowing and leaving. Giovanni, who was left alone, smirked.

"Now we will see who truly is the strongest." The man said, looking up. "No more will team rocket have to work in the shadows. I will rule this world with an iron fist."

The Dark clouds moving in the sky towards Saffron city was perhaps the perfect way to describe the evil that was slowly headed towards it.

* * *

It was a ridiculously overused plot in horror films, that was what it was, yet somehow fate never seemed to let go of it. It was always in the jungle, especially when it was about to get dark, and especially when they were walking on the side of a small hill with a perhaps 10 to 20 feet drop on the other side that it had to happen.

Out of nowhere, when they passed by a small cave, there was the sound of some Pokémon growling and with a boom a large Rhydon emerged out of nowhere. It was hungry, it was half asleep and most of all, it was _pissed._

"Oh what the hell!" All 3 of them shouted together when their eyes fell upon the angry Rhydon, who roared.

"RHYYYY!" The rock type giant roared, it's mouth filling with yellow coloured energy.

"On no, it's going to use Hyper beam!" Ash exclaimed, fingering a Pokéball. But it was too late; the Rhydon had already charged up the Hyper beam and luckily, didn't aim it exactly at them but on the ground. Unluckily, the ground was destroyed and so was the road they were standing on, so down they went, tumbling into the forest.

"AHHHH!" All three of them shouted as they were separated, all the while the Rhydon shouted and screamed that his 'prey' had left.

"RHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY!" The Rhydon shouted and jumped down the mountain behind them. Unknown to him that they were all landing on separate places.

* * *

"Gah damned Rhydon." Brock grunted, rubbing his head as he got out from the bushes he had landed in. He didn't have any wounds on him and luckily all of his Pokémon were with him as well. "This is when I regret that we don't have a handy water type. Ash, it will be better if you have your Wartortle out."

When he was met with silence, he looked up and looked around, and searched for the red eyed boy, or even the pink haired girl, and found none of them.

"Huh? Ash? Yancy? Pikachu?" He called out, but there was no response. "Where is everyone!?"

Similarly, Yancy got was looking around her surroundings, trying to find Ash and Brock. Her Meowth was luckily with her, but she noticed something.

"Oh no!" Yancy exclaimed, noticing her Pokéballs on the ground. They were all empty. Checking her Pokédex, she was glad they weren't accidently released, but both Vulpix and Cleafable were missing. "Vulpix! Cleafable!"

Ash had landed quite a distance away from all of them, on his back which luckily he remembered to roll to avoid any further damage. Pikachu was with him and the rest of his Pokémon as well.

"Damn, that Rhydon was quite the surprise." Ash muttered, looking around. "Brock! Yancy!"

"Pikapi!" Ash looked down, towards Pikachu, who was pointing at something in the distance. He looked to see 2 Pokémon, a Vulpix and a Cleafable, which he recognised instantly due to the pink ribbons on their legs. "Pikachu!"

"Cleafable! Vulpix?!" Ash exclaimed, catching their attention. The 2 disoriented Pokémon noticed him and instantly ran towards him, their eyes wide in relief and worry. Vulpix, who was the needier one of the 2, jumped into his arms. "Oh, hello Vulpix. Are you alright?"

"Vui!" Vulpix purred, as if asking him some question. "Vulpix! Vui!"

"I don't know." Ash shook his head. "If Yancy is not with you and neither is Meowth then that means both of them are separated from you. I'd guess you slipped out of your Pokéballs."

"Clea! Fable! Cleafable!" Cleafable cried, his hands pointing towards the hill that they fell out of that was within sight, and then towards some other direction. "Cleafable!"

"Yeah, we're still close to the hill. The others might not be far off." Ash said, unclasping Charizard's Pokéball. "Come out Charizard!"

"Charrrrr!" Charizard roared once as he came out of his Pokéball, looking around for the challenge before looking at Ash.

"Sorry Charizard, no challenge this time. There was a Rhydon that separated us all. I don't know where Yancy and Brock are." Ash said to Charizard. "Do you think you can find them?"

Charizard snorted, unfolding his wings and taking to the skies, growling once as he passed by overhead. Ash shook his head at the prideful Pokémon's antics, and took precaution by calling out Wartortle and Ivysaur as well.

"You better stay out." Ash said to Wartortle and Ivysaur. "Better safe than sorry."

"Woooooorrrr!" Wartortle growled as well, keeping his ears open for anything as he walked side by side with Ash. Ivysaur was walking behind but it's red eyes were moving everywhere, tracing every sound or change in scent it could catch. Pikachu was in front of them, and Charizard looking for the others in the skies. Things were, however, difficult for Charizard considering the trees were huge and thick and entirely pink, meaning that even the usually perfect sighted Charizard couldn't find anyone. The darkening skies didn't help as well.

'By the way we are going; the night will be upon us soon.' Ash thought, looking at his Pokégear. 'And of course, Brock's Pokégear isn't responding.'

"Vulpix." Ash looked down towards a worried looking Vulpix. "Vul! Vulpix!"

"I know Vulpix, I'm worried about her too." Ash replied to her. "Yancy only has Meowth with her. But Meowth is good, she'll take good care of Yancy."

"Vui." Vulpix purred, her voice and sound downtrodden as she dejectedly walked beside Ash. Ash sighed and looked at Pikachu.

"Anything Pikachu?" Ash asked his starter, who shook his head. "Well, that's not good. We need to stop. It's almost night time."

"Charrr!" Ash looked up to see Charizard circling above a spot. "Char!"

"A clearing?" After training his Aura for almost a month ever since he got the book in Amethyst town, he had gotten really good in certain aspects of Aura, like controlling his senses. Gradually, he could understand Pokémon even better, and now he could hold conversations with every Pokémon he had spent more than 2 weeks with. Meaning talking to all of his Pokémon _and_ all of Brock's and Yancy's wasn't weird for him. The fact that he could understand them made Brock curious at the same time Jealous. "Alright, we'll stop there. You can go and land if you want."

"Charrr!" Charizard growled once he flew above him, out to go and find if he could get a last crack at finding Brock or Yancy. "Charizard!"

"Well, there's our stop for the night." Ash said as the lone human and the Pokémon came upon the clearing. It was a simple partition in the woods, about 5 to 6 meters apart, the forest on all the sides of them. Ash didn't have any wood on him, neither did he have anything that could Hold a fire, but that didn't mean he could improvise.

One thing that they had forgotten to take into account, Ash thought, that no matter whatever colour they were, they were trees, and they had leaves, which would eventually die and fall off. As such, had they used even the least of their brains, they would have come up with the alternative to use the dead leaves to start a fire. The question arose on to how to use the said leaves without creating just spark and an actual fire. Well, trees burnt, and so did leaves, there was no doubt about it. All they needed was a little spark and the leaves would burn. And it wasn't only the leaves that had fallen from the trees, there were small twigs and an entire branch that Ash found around the clearing. The marks on the trees in the distance was concerning, but he was sure any of his Pokémon could take down a wild Kangashkan or other Pokémon that decided to pay them a visit in the night.

So with the help of Vulpix, he had a fire going in the area, and was slowly getting his tent ready. He hoped that with the light of the fire, wherever Brock and Yancy were, they would find him.

* * *

"Thank you Rhyhorn." Brock said to Rhyhorn, rubbing the top of his hard head. Rhyhorn let out a pleasured purr underneath Brock's touch. Brock had called him out to help by sniffing out if he could find Ash and Yancy but had no such luck. "You did all you could."

"Rhyyy!" Rhyhorn muttered, letting himself be called back into his Pokéball. Brock suddenly remembered that he was the one that had all the Pokéfood and the firewood, so it was going to difficult for Ash and Yancy to start a fire.

'Alright. I need to get a higher view.' Brock thought, cursing as he looked at the trees. 'If only I had a flying type. And even that wouldn't have helped. The trees here are so thick that I don't think anyone will be able to see from the top of it!'

Shaking his head, Brock started to walk into the forest, hoping to find a clearing of sorts where he could rest and start a fire. And that was when he noticed it. A fire. It was far off in the distance but it was still a fire, sparkling off in the twilight. He started to run towards it, hoping that it was one of his friends or even anyone that would be able to help.

On the other hand, Yancy was completely lost. She had no idea what to do and where to go, as the darkness was slowly increasing. Her only solace was Meowth, who was with her, and walking in front of her. One of the good things, she thought to herself, was that Meowth trained regularly and not only normal training.

Following Ash's Pikachu and all of his Pokémon, Meowth also trained in learning moves and getting stronger, as evident by the fact that she was able to not only use her moves to the fullest extent, but also learn moves from Pikachu, such as Thunderbolt and Iron Tail, her Egg Move. She had also learnt Bite and Crunch, as per her own Level ups and was her strongest, at the level 40. As for why she hadn't chose to evolve yet, it was out of her mind.

Returning back to her current condition, Yancy was really glad that Meowth was with her because she could easily help her out trying to find her friends by using her eye-sight and her senses.

"Anything Meowth?" Yancy asked, sighing in depression when the catlike Pokémon mewled negatively. "Damn, we're really lost."

"Nyaa!" Meowth cooed, walking up to her trainer and rubbing her face against her leg. "Nyaa Nyaa Nyaaa!"

"I am glad I have you though Meowth." Yancy said, smiling down at her trusty starter and picking her up. "Come on, we need to go and find some shelter."

"Nyaa!" Meowth cooed in her trainer's arms, both of them walking forwards towards the trees. One advantage that Yancy had in this was the fact that she had experience in staying inside a forest, so she knew at least what to do and where to go. Usually the trees at night were wet and moist because of the dew hanging in the air, and the ground was filled with things you didn't want to encounter. Now, she was glad that she had brought a Hammock just because she really liked the idea of sleeping on a Hammock, so she could at least sleep peacefully over the ground. The probably was finding a perfect spot for her to rest the night in. And food as well. "Nyaa~"

"I know Meowth." She didn't need to understand Meowth to know what she was saying. She was hungry as well. "I am also hungry. Once we stop I'll see if I have any berries with me."

"Nyaa!" Meowth nodded, licking Yancy's face once and snuggling her face onto Yancy's neck. "Nyaa!"

Trying her best not to be scared, Yancy continued to walk inside the dark forest, completely unknown to the beady set of her eyes watching her curiously. In the end it took her another hour of walking to find a place good enough for them to sleep, beside a small stream. And by the time she reached there, it was already well after dark. And it was always a good idea to have a fire in the Dark, which she didn't have, unfortunately, because of the fact that she didn't have any firewood on her.

"This is bad." Yancy muttered, curling up on the hammock she had, Meowth on her lap, curled up as well. "So very bad."

It was always a bad idea to not sleep with fire in the forest, so many things could go wrong. Really aggressive wild Pokémon could turn up, the cold could set in and worst of all, rescue would probably not find you in the night if there was no sign of someone being in trouble or lost. Always, it was the worst possible idea to sleep without fire, or some form of light, or warmth.

Lucky enough, Meowth was really warm, and Yancy was incredibly small. It basically meant that they both could easily curl up on the Hammock, with a small shawl that she had, and sleep with her eyes closed. This was probably one of the times she regretted not having a way to communicate with people.

Back with Brock, it had taken him 2 hours to walk to where he saw the fire, through the denser part of the forest, avoiding large growths of thorns and things like that. One funny thing he noticed was that even the Thorns were pink. Slowly but surely, he did pop up to the place where the clearing was and was absolutely delighted to see the familiar face of Ash sitting in front of the fire boiling a glass of water.

Charizard was the first one to notice him, and growled in slight satisfaction of looking at the Breeder in training. Ash and the rest of his Pokémon looked up, and all of the Pokémon cheered out his name, happy to see another one of their friends around, while Ash's red eyes did have a sort of relief in them.

"Hey Brock." Ash sighed. "Thank god you found me, it would have been a pain to find you if you didn't show up. I guess it's good I managed to start a fire."

"I'll be honest, if I didn't see the smoke, I won't have seen you." Brock said equally relieved. He looked at Yancy's Pokémon and frowned. "Where is Yancy?"

"She's missing. They probably popped out of their Pokéballs when we fell off the hill." Ash said, sighing in dismay. "I sent Charizard to scout out ahead, but didn't find anything."

"Yeah, the trees are really dense in here, much denser than in the start." Brock said, sitting on the rock in front of the fire. "How did you start a fire?"

"Well, as you can see, there are a lot of dead branches and leaves fallen down. I also found a small field of some dried grass out in that direction." Ash said, pointing towards a small path that lead to the woods. "There's a small field out there, with some dead grass. We can't uh... 'harvest' was the word used so I'll use harvest anything from the trees and shit like that, which is incredibly foolish because there's no reason for an entire _forest_ to be put under such a protection, but no-one said about not picking up things that fell down on the ground."

"Wow, can't believe we didn't think of that." Brock said, looking at the berries that all the Pokémon had in front of them. "All of them are either Oran berries or Razz Berries as well. Every Pokémon love them."

"Yeah, and I've got 2 packets of instant oats." Ash said, pulling out 2 of the said packets. It was a great idea by Brock to have both Ash and Yancy carry instant food packets like noodles, pasta, oats and even some cookies and chocolates. Each one of them had a small sack filled with berries and even ration bars as well. "Strawberry flavour. You want to eat?"

"I better do. I haven't had anything since we separated." Brock said, removing his own backpack and putting it off to the side. He looked around Ash's campsite and noticed his own Tent set up, and then at the small fire-pit. "By the time you do this, I am going to set up my own sleeping bag. Can I use your tent?"

"Of course, it'll fit both of us." Ash said, waving his hand. "Just don't mind me keeping some of the flap open."

"Yeah, it's alright." Brock nodded, heading inside of Ash's tent. Ash returned back to making the oatmeal, and even added a couple of Razz berry pieces inside. He was really glad Brock was safe and had found him. Now all that was left was Yancy.

* * *

Yancy woke up relatively early the next morning. Hoping to see the sun rising from the trees so she could make out the way towards Celadon, which should be directly north, she had Meowth wake her up if the alarm in her Pokédex didn't wake her up.

Of course, she didn't consider the Pinsir staring at her curiously just standing near where she was sleeping the first thing to greet her when she woke up. So naturally, when looking at that face, the first thing she did was very, very unceremoniously jump out of the bed with a shriek.

" _Kyaaaa!_ " Yancy squealed when she looked at the large metallic snappers of the Pinsir in front of her. She won't have been so surprised if it had popped up in the wild, but considering it was so early and she was still almost half asleep, she couldn't help but twirl around and fall off the hammock. Meowth hissed, jumping in front of the Hammock and glaring at the opposing Pinsir.

"Nyaa!" Meowth hissed, her claws slowly started to glow with the energy of her Fury Swipes. Pinsir simply squawked, or did the noise a bug type does, his 2 giant pincers snapping together, followed by some other noises. Meowth's attitude changed, from alert and ready to fight to much more calm and friendly, now saying in a much gentle mewl. "Nyaa?"

"Pinsir!" The Pinsir said in its usual strange voice. "Pin! Pinsir!"

"Nyaa!" Meowth mewled once again, looking back at Yancy who looked up from the Hammock, her pink hair sprawled out everywhere. "Nyaa! Nyaa!"

"Ouch." Yancy muttered, rubbing her nose. "That was scary."

She looked up at the Pinsir still standing right where it was. Pinsir was a bug type Pokémon, predominantly brown in colour with 2 metallic pincers on the top of its head and a mouth that was vertical rather than horizontal. Fidgeting for her Pokédex, she pointed it at the Pinsir.

 _Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokémon. Pinsir uses its powerful, Claw like Pincers on the top of its head to crush it's opponents. This Pinsir is a male and is on level 45._

"Wow, you're one strong wild Pokémon." Yancy said, looking at Pinsir again, this time with a frown that could have been mistaken for a pout. "But did you need to scare me?"

"Pinsir!" Pinsir suddenly showed an incredibly joyous looking expression, or at least that was what she presumed it was. "Pinsir! Pinsir! Pinsir!"

"Uh... You're really jolly and mischievous aren't you?" Yancy said, smiling slightly, shaking her head. "Well either way, I've got to find my friends."

"Pinsir!" The Pinsir's expression lit up in some unknown emotion, and it buzzed around, raising one of its claws and making a waving motion. "Pinsir! Pinsir! Pinsir!"

"Uhh..." She really wasn't Ash who could use his Aura to translate a Pokémon's expression and understand them, but judging by the way he was motioning her, she presumed he wanted her to follow him. "Well, whatever you say."

Gathering her Hammock, she packed it inside of her back, and walked behind the Pinsir who led her through some thick woods and alongside the Stream. One of the challenges was climbing through a large boulder which was only possible because the helpful Bug type helped her up the boulder. An hour later, the Pinsir actually led her to the road, the same road that they had to travel through.

"Wow!" Yancy exclaimed, looking around. There was a signpost nearby, saying Celadon city straight ahead, and the same hill which they had fallen off of behind them. "Thank you Pinsir! You're awesome!"

"Pinsir!" Pinsir glowed under the praise. "Pinsir! Pinsir!"

"RHYYYYYYY!" Of course, like any cliché episode, the Happy moment had just to be ruined by the same Rhydon that had knocked them out appearing in front of them. "RHYDON!"

"Oh no not this again!" Yancy wanted to cry, looking at the Rhydon in front of her. "Meowth!"

"Nyaa!" Meowth hissed, her claws once again sharpening, ready to fight the Meowth. But of course, it was not to be. Pinsir stepped in front of Meowth, it's expression now what one would expect of a Bug type, deadly and ready to gross out anyone.

"PINSIR!" Pinsir's own shout echoed throughout the area. The seemingly friendly brown bug type Pokémon seemed incredibly annoyed that his new friend seemed afraid. "Pinsir!"

"Rhy!" Rhydon started the battle sending a giant rock at Pinsir. Pinsir was fast enough to dodge it, but the rock exploded upon impact. "RHY!"

The exploding rocks didn't stop, shooting across at Pinsir at extremely fast paces, which the brown bug type easily dodged. Then he went on the offensive, his arm glowing as it smashed into the Rhydon's belly. Yancy recognised that move as Brick Break, which should be super effective against the Rhydon.

"Pinsir!" Pinsir growled, His entire body glowing. It then started to roll, like using the move rollout, but instead of hitting it head on, it hit the Rhydon with a devastating punch straight in the fact. Rhydon was sent flying off in the air due to the force at which the Pinsir hit him. "Pinsir!"

"RHYYY!" Rhydon got up, the tanky Rock and Ground type snarling in rage, it's hand suddenly sparking up with flames and with a strange, boosted speed, hit Pinsir right in the face with the fire-punch, the super-effective move making point blank damage. "Rhydon!"

"Oh no, Pinsir!" Yancy gasped when the brown bug type Pokémon was shot towards a tree. She squeaked when the Rhydon's eyes turned on her. "Meowth! Use Iron Tail!"

"Nyaa!" Meowth growled, jumping at Rhydon with a glowing tail. The Rhydon caught it with minimal efforts, and slammed a harsh arm straight towards Meowth, knocking it out instantly.

"MEOWTH!" Yancy cried when her starter hit the ground in front of her, knocked out. She picked up the small catlike Pokémon, cradling it to her chest, her eyes pooled with worry. "Meowth! Wake up, please!"

"Rhyyyyyy!" Yancy looked up to see the Rhydon towering above her it's fist raised up in the air to use the same move as it did on Meowth, ready to crush her, had she not had the greatest friends. 2 vines wrapped around her middle, pulling both her and Meowth back from the incoming Hammer Arm, and a bunch of leaves impacted straight on Rhydon's head.

"Ivysaur!" Ash's Ivysaur jumped in front of her and the Rhydon, it's flower slowly ruffling around, releasing a lot of pink coloured petals. "Ivysaur!"

"RHYYYY!" Rhydon shouted in pain as the petals hit him. Rhydon growled, somehow still standing after the 4x super effective move hit him, it's fists once again going up in flames, ready for another fire punch. "Rhydon!"

"Yancy!" She heard Brock call out for her, both him and Ash running along the road towards them, along with both her other Pokémon. "Oh thank mew you're safe!"

"Vulpix! Cleafable!" Yancy cried happily, opening her arms up for her excitable fire type to jump up in her hands. "I am so sorry! I forgot to lock your Pokéballs properly."

"Vui!" Vulpix cried happily rubbing her face against Yancy's face. "Vulpix!"

"We tried to find you using Charizard." Ash said, pointing up at the flying black fire-type Dragon, who was slowly descending down. "But apparently the trees were too dense until he sighted you against that Rhydon. Ivysaur was close enough to stop you from being crushed. Speaking of which..."

His red eyes turned towards the Pinsir that was slowly getting up. Scanning it with his Pokédex, his eyebrows raised. That was one strong wild Pokémon, almost as strong as the Rhydon in front of them.

"Rhy!" Rhydon growled, making a threatening step towards Ivysaur, who stood the ground. "Rhydon!"

"Saur!" Ivysaur growled back seemingly offended. He suddenly started to glow a bright white in colour, increasing in size until he stood towering, almost as tall as the Rhydon in front of them. The flower on his back had turned into a giant flower, with large leaves at the tree's base. The flower was red in colour with white spots in it, and a small, golden yellow coloured bud in the middle. "Venusaur!"

The newly evolved Venasur's flower ruffled as a lot, _a lot_ of petals slowly ruffled out of it, smashing into the Rhydon, instantly knocking it out. Ash's Pokédex dinged.

 _Venusaur, the Seed Pokémon. When it's large flower absorbs the light of the sun, it is said to gain great amounts of nutrition. The flower will be much brighter if it has more nutrition and it's aroma will soothe the emotions of the people that smell it. This Venusaur is on the level 52, and has learnt the move Petal Blizzard and Solar beam._

"Wow." Ash said with wide eyes, looking at the Venusaur in front of him. "Good job Ivysaur, you finally decided to evolve or not."

"Saurr!" Venusaur growled in approval of Ash's praise. "Venusaur!"

"Charr~~~" Charizard also growled in approval, landing in front of the newly evolved Pokémon. "Charizard!"

"Saur!" Venusaur nodded, looking at Ash. "Saur!"

"Alright, you've done good. Return Venusaur." Ash returned the newly evolved grass type. He looked at Charizard and decided he also deserved rest. "You too Charizard, return."

"Yeah, Meowth, Vulpix, Cleafable, return!" the 3 of the pinkette"s Pokémon returned back to their Pokéballs. "That was one hell of a trip. If it wasn't for Pinsir, I wouldn't have ever found you."

"Pinsir!" Pinsir cried joyously. "Pinsir!"

"Well, we're back together, and on the road again." Brock said. "The Pokégear also has a signal. So how about we make our way to Celadon city?"

"That's a good idea." Ash nodded, looking at the road. "We're still 4 days to Celadon."

"Yeah." Yancy nodded, looking back at Pinsir sadly. "Sorry Pinsir, I guess this is goodbye."

"Pinsir!" Pinsir seemingly had other ideas as it suddenly jumped at Yancy, and pressed an empty Pokéball on her belt. The Pokéball shook only once before there was a ding.

"Huh?" Yancy muttered in shock as her Pokédex registered the Pinsir being caught. Ash sniggered and Brock chuckled at her face, causing her to pout at them, but nothing stopped the bright grin on her face. "Shut up!"

No matter how bad the scenario was, something good always came out of it. The one thing that can be worst to do is give up, and it seems that Yancy got a new friend out of it. Perhaps this luck might continue to hold, or maybe not?

 **The End.**

 **Author's Notes- Finally. Had this thing written down for a month!**

 **As the Author's notes chapter said, my Grandmother was really ill, and is actually still Ill. The Doctors discharged her from the ICU almost 2 days ago, and is now back at home, with a minor paralysis stroke and Dementia stamped upon her. She sometimes even forgets who I am, and considering my father lives in another city, I have to take care of a 78 year old woman all by myself.**

 **Moving on, as I am back at my house, and with my good old internet, I can finally,** _ **finally**_ **upload the chapters I have planned down. So here we go, Chapter no. 17 of Ash Red Ketchum is now on. I am interested to see what the viewers think about this, considering I wrote this down in a damned hospital, one hour per day, for the 14 days I stayed as a guest in the Guest ward of a Hospital near my house. Literally, no internet, no outside food allowed and the use of the charging plug was allowed only 1 and a half our per day, meaning I had to charge my Mobile Phone, my Laptop, my newly acquired 3ds** _ **and**_ **my Ipad.**

 **As for Pinsir, well, let's say it has a back-story. So, there's this one thing called Nuzlocke, which I am sure most of you will know about. Basically it is making the game harder, a lot,** _ **lot**_ **harder. The rules go as follows: once a Pokémon faints, you have to keep it in the box or release it. You can only catch one Pokémon per route, and that is the first one that pops up and the way we, that is the community which I am a part of have our own third rule, is the use of healing items is restricted to only using 5 of each between getting a badge. Basically, if I earn the Boulder Badge in Pewter city, I can only use 5 Potions, Paralyse Heals, Awakenings etc.**

 **Moving on, back in 2005, when I had an Game Boy Advance SP and was playing a Leaf Green Nuzlocke, and the first Pokémon that popped up in the Safari Zone was Pinsir. I cried at the time, considering that I** _ **hated**_ **Pinsir. I found it funny and looking incredibly close to a Cockroach than anything else. Of course, that all changed when I was against Gary or Blue, as most call him.**

 **I had lost my god damn starter, Blastoise, literally the only Pokémon that had stuck along the entire Nuzlocke, against Blue's Pidgeot, and the final Pokémon was Rhydon. I guess that is why I have included a Rhydon in it. So, back on topic, the Rhydon that Blue has is a strong Pokémon, we all know that. So against Rhydon, I had my last Pokémon, a level 57 Pinsir. So, it was quite a climactic battle. Now, one funny thing about Pinsir, it only learns** _ **one Bug type move**_ **even if it is a damned** _ **pure bug type Pokémon**_ **and that also in** _ **Pokémon Emerald**_ **. Most would laugh at that, but I laughed for a completely different reason.**

 **Pinsir knew Brick Break. I used the TM of Brick Break on Pinsir, somehow I deleted the original move that it learns on level 31 for some other move. So, Pinsir knows Brick break, Swords Dance, Double Team and for some strange reason, my 8 to 9 year old self thought Toxic was a good move to have. Why the heck not? Either way, the Rhydon, through some strange form of luck, goes on using Earthquake upon Earthquake, which should have taken me out in 2 hits, if not for the 3 Double Teams I got in. So, I then used one single Swords Dance, and then Rhydon goes for the damned Rock Tomb. Pinsir survives with** _ **3 HP!**_ **And then I go for a Brick Break. Bam, I won the battle against blue, with a level 57 Pinsir which I never,** _ **never used**_ **in the entire play through, only kept it as an HM slave, literally teaching it all the HMs it could learn and then finally, against the last Pokémon of the champion, Pinsir breaks through.**

 **Since then, I love Pinsir and it was also in my Pokémon Blue team in the Console version of them that I played. Anyways, that is why I wanted Yancy to have a Pinsir. Considering I have Ash's team planned out, and you've pretty much guess who the next Pokémon Ash is going to catch is, I'll keep this brief. I wanted at least someone to have a Pinsir, and I guess Yancy stood out as the best choice... Of course, the other reason will come when the Hoenn saga pops up *wink**wink*.**

 **Back on topic, Yeah, Pinsir is the next** Poké **mon Yancy caught. So, I guess the next chapter will contain the Silph Corp Fiasco in Saffron. One other thing to note, whenever I write, let's say, SS. Anne(the particular ship we need to get on in Vermilion City), it won't show up in the app, I don't know why. So I guess I'll just not write abbreviations like that.**

 **The next update will be hopefully soon, right after I update NGMA and maybe the Dragon King. Thank you for the continued support.**

 **Omnipotent97.**


	18. AN

Hey, sorry for not being able to update at all. I had gotten a new Job and was busy in doing said job. Just so you know, I am now working at , PM me if you need anything written and we can talk about it later on.

As I said, I was actually very busy with my new Writing job and couldn't write anything for my fanfictions because I was working on my own Professional Career as a writer. I plan on returning to Fanfiction by this weekend. My Schedule will now change from 3 stories in a week to 1 in a week, well, if i am able to keep that target on as well. I really hope i am able to keep up.

So be on the lookout for Ash 'Red' Ketchum first and then The Dragon King next. I hope to see the updates going on as soon as I can.

Regards,

Omnipotent97


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